23 Marines killed by MILF in clash, 10 beheaded

07/12/2007

Islamic militants killed 14 Marines searching for abducted Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi near Tipo-Tipo in Basilan during a major gunbattle and later beheaded 10 of them, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) confirmed yesterday, hinting that it was the work of the Abu Sayyaf, group known to behead its victims.

But the “freedom fighters” of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) acknowledged responsibility for the deaths of 23 Marines, with more injured.

Abu Majid, MILF information officer, disclosed that the Marines entered the MILF area in complete disregard of the ceasefire agreement between the MILF and the government.

“We have all the mechanism of the ceasefire that allows no errors for coordination and to prevent this kind of unfortunate incident,” he stressed, saying the MILF does not understand why no such coordination was attempted by the Marines.

He dismissed allegations from the AFP that the military troops encountered in Tipo-Tipo town were members of the Abu Sayyaf.

Majid also disclosed that 23 Marines were killed on the spot including 10 who were “beheaded” by unknown groups after the fighting.

Majid also said the MILF forces captured 27 firearms described as follows: six M-60 machineguns; eight M-203 grenade launchers, 10 M-16 Armalite rifles, one 60mm mortar, and several night vision goggles.

A Marines spokesman claimed that the troops were ambushed in Basilan by a joint force from the MILF and the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf.

Lt. Col. Ariel Caculitan said 14 marines were killed in the eight-hour clash, increasing an earlier death toll after more bodies were recovered. Ten had been discovered beheaded, he said in Manila.

“All 10 marines earlier reported missing have been found dead,” Caculitan told reporters. “All were beheaded,” he added.

Another nine were injured in the gunbattle with about 300 militants near Tipo-Tipo town on Tuesday, he said.

Intelligence reports said Italian priest Bossi, 57, was being kept in an area where MILF forces were known to operate and the troops had been sent in to investigate, said regional Marine commander Ramiro Alivio.

About 80 Marines clashed with the MILF militants backed by Abu Sayyaf fighters, after arriving there early Tuesday, Colonel Alivio said.

Some of the beheaded had been found by provincial authorities in Basilan and been turned over to the military, other Marines said.

Bossi, of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME), was seized by unknown heavily armed men near his parish church in Zamboanga peninsula on June 10.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu acknowledged the group’s fighters clashed with the military on Tuesday, but he denied Abu Sayyaf militants were involved, and accused the troops of violating a ceasefire by entering an MILF area.

Four MILF fighters were killed in the battle and four were injured, he said.

The 12,000-strong MILF is the country’s main separatist rebel group and is currently engaged in peace talks with the government in Manila.

The son of Abu Sayyaf commander Isnilon Hapilon was thought wounded or even killed after taking part in Tuesday’s ambush, Caculitan said.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita for his part, claimed President Arroyo was angry over the development in the light of the resumption of peace negotiations between the GRP peace panel and the MILF next month in Malaysia.

Ermita said the President had already tasked presidential adviser on peace process Jesus Dureza and GRP peace panel chief Rudy Garcia to update Malacanang over the incident.

“Well that’s (beheading of soldiers) really too much but let’s still see how our negotiators will handle that. Its not for me to dictate on them what they must do, but we can’t do anything. As a former military man, I can only say that’s part of the hazards of the trade of being a man in uniform,” he said.

MILF chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal and MILF spokesman Kabalu said their troops had acted in self-defense against the Marines who had entered an MILF area without informing the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH), the implementing body for the ceasefire between the military and the MILF.

Iqbal assured that they will file a protest before the CCCH since the incident was definitely a ceasefire violation.

He said their troops in the area were taken by surprise upon seeing the soldiers and decided to fire on them.

During the firefight, Iqbal said four of their guerrillas were killed and seven others were wounded.

He admitted that MILF rebels scouring the area after the firefight recovered 11 headless corpses.

But Iqbal could not explain why the dead soldiers had to be beheaded.

“I received the report that our troops beheaded seven Marines early this morning. We are investigating and determining the identities of those involved. We have an existing policy not to harm any captured enemy,” Iqbal said. “That is against Islam.”

Iqbal said the MILF had “no information” on reports that the Abu Sayyaf was keeping Bossi in Basilan, a known bailiwick of the extremist Muslim rebel group.

Asked if there were Abu Sayyaf forces in Tipo-Tipo, Iqbal said: “Definitely not…The government knows. The soldiers know that (Tipo-Tipo) is an MILF area.”

But Alivio and Caculitan maintained that the troops, who rode three military trucks, were ambushed while on their way back to their headquarters in Campo Uno in Basilan at about 10 a.m. Tuesday after another operation in connection with the Bossi kidnapping.

“One of the three trucks (got) stuck in the mud. It was then raining hard and that made the movement of the soldiers quite difficult,” he said.

Alivio said the soldiers were moving slowly when fired upon by about 400 gunmen, who he claimed belonged to the MILF and the Abu Sayyaf.

“They (Marines) were surprised when bullets also rained on them,” Alivio added.

Alivio said the soldiers retaliated and engaged the armed men in a heavy firefight that lasted for about 10 hours.

“We were outnumbered that’s the reason we suffered heavy casualties,” Alivio said.

“It was a very treacherous attack,” Caculitan told a news conference in Camp Aguinaldo.

Caculitan insisted that it was the Abu Sayyaf, supported by unidentified “lawless elements” that had engaged the Marines. With Gina Peralta-Elorde, Sherwin C. Olaes and AFP

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