27 bodies, unexploded ordnance recovered since start of Zambo clearing operations

From InterAksyon (Oct 2): 27 bodies, unexploded ordnance recovered since start of Zambo clearing operations

Security forces have recovered 27 more bodies and several pieces of unexploded ordnance since they began clearing areas of Zamboanga City retaken from the Moro National Liberation Front, the military said Wednesday.

Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Zagala, chief of the Armed Forces’ public affairs office, said the 165 explosives recovered consisted mostly of unexploded hand and rifle-launched grenades.

No improvised explosive devices or bombs, usually crafted from mortar shells, has been found.

The cadavers, he added, “are now being processed for investigation and to be turned over to the local government unit.”

However, he declined to speak of Habier Malik, the trusted lieutenant of MNLF founder Nur Misuari who commanded the rebels who forayed into Zamboanga on September 9, sparking the three-week bloody standoff that has so far claimed more than 200 lives, left many more injured and displaced more than 100,000 persons.

Until recently, authorities continued to maintain that Malik is trapped within a “constriction area,” even as persistent reports said the MNLF commander managed to slip away and return to Sulu.

An identification card in Malik’s name was also recovered from the body of a dead rebel.

Zagala acknowledged that the size of the area that needs to be cleared was “quite big” but said soldiers and policemen are determined to finish the job, including the arrest or elimination of rebel holdouts.

Earlier, he said the clearing operations might take at least two weeks.

He also cautioned that the absence of new skirmishes did not necessarily mean there are no more rebels.

“There are lots of places that we have to look into,” he said. “What’s important is to ensure that all these areas, all these barangays would be rendered safe for the eventual return of civilians to their residences.”

The Western Mindanao Command, which is headquartered in Zamboanga, has not lowered the red alert it raised on September 9.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/71929/27-bodies-unexploded-ordnance-recovered-since-start-of-zambo-clearing-operations