Fighting erupts in North Cotabato

From the Philippine Star (Oct 17): Fighting erupts in North Cotabato

A 30-minute firefight between unidentified gunmen and militiamen in North Cotabato’s Aleosan town greeted Monday’s signing of the framework agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). There was no report of casualties, but the firefight forced dozens of Muslim and Christian villagers to evacuate on fears of getting trapped in the crossfire. Col. Prudencio Asto, public affairs chief of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said the heavily armed attackers first surrounded a roadside militia detachment in Barangay Dunguan in Aleosan on Monday night and without warning opened fire with assault rifles and rocket propelled grenades. Local officials said the gunmen were overheard talking to each other in ethnic Maguindanaon dialect. Members of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) manning the detachment engaged the bandits in a firefight, triggering panic in surrounding villages. Asto said Army units in Aleosan and nearby towns have been receiving information that the attack was in retaliation for the death of a notorious leader of a bandit gang, Mustapha Mangileb Guindalangan. Guindalangan was killed by soldiers manning a roadside checkpoint in Midsayap town in North Cotabato last week for trying to lob a grenade. Asto said the 6th ID will ask the government’s ceasefire committee, which deals with the MILF, to investigate Monday night’s firefight in Aleosan. “The scene of the encounter is inside an area covered by the government-MILF ceasefire. We abide by the protocols and established rules on how the government and the MILF are to cooperate in addressing this kind of security problem,” Asto said.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=860269&publicationSubCategoryId=63