Residents of Takipan village in Pikit, North Cotabato, southern Philippines, hurry into a truck as they leave their homes due to fighting between government soldiers and Moro Islamic Liberation Front..
(REUTERS/Stringer)
"Our forces on the ground are withdrawing from the conflict areas so we expect fighting to end by tomorrow (Wednesday)," Eid Kabalu, a spokesman for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), told Reuters. "We expect the situation to normalise."
Kabalu said fighting had subsided by Monday night after a two-day barrage of bombs and mortars rained down on farms and villages in North Cotabato on troubled Mindanao island.
Major Armand Rico, an army spokesman on the southern island, said soldiers were encountering less resistance from rebels, and on Tuesday "liberated" five more villages in North Cotabato province.
"Our troops are still clearing eight villages," Rico told reporters, adding soldiers were doing house-to-house search to make sure the rebels did not leave any booby traps.
"We're making sure the areas are safe before we could allow residents to move back to their homes and farms. We have cleared a total of seven villages and we hope to re-establish control in the remaining eight villages by tomorrow."
Manila has accused hundreds of MILF guerrillas of occupying the villages and had given them an ultimatum to leave.
Analysts said both sides were flexing their military muscles after yet another setback in long-running talks to end the near 40-year separatist conflict in Mindanao that has killed over 120,000 people.
Manila was keen to be seen protecting the majority Catholic population in the resource-rich south after details of its generous concessions to the MILF on territory, political power and mineral rights were leaked earlier this month.
Catholic politicians successfully halted the signing of the deal and legal experts expect the Supreme Court to rule within the next few months that the agreement was unconstitutional.
NO POLITICAL WILL
Some analysts said President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo had factored in the Supreme Court obstacle. Many believe she lacks the political will to transfer real power to Muslims in the south.
MILF commanders on the ground are outraged at the setback but analysts do not expect the current fighting to spread into an all-out war because neither side has the resources to deliver a knockout punch.
The military has said 46 MILF rebels were killed since Sunday, including 15 on the island of Basilan, where guerrillas were trying to halt voting in local elections there on Monday.
The MILF has said five of its members were killed and three wounded in North Cotabato. It said it couldn't confirm the casualties on Basilan, which is around 200 km (125 miles) southwest of North Cotabato.
At least three civilians and three soldiers have been killed.
