Fierce fighting has displaced nearly 160,000 civilians in the southern Philippines as Muslim rebels said they were pulling back yesterday from occupied villages amid an offensive by government forces.
Footage yesterday showed residents hastily fleeing their homes after hearing gunfire, leading precious water buffaloes but carrying few other belongings.
Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno blamed Moro Islamic Liberation Front guerrillas for refusing to leave villages they began occupying last month in the predominantly Christian province of North Cotabato and forcing residents to abandon their farmlands at harvest time.
The Philippine government gave the rebels an ultimatum to withdraw by Friday, then started pounding guerrilla positions with artillery fire and helicopter gunships on Sunday when they failed to do so. Government figures showed 83 homes had been destroyed.
Philippine troops regained control of two villages in clashes on Monday that killed at least one soldier and seven rebels.
Rebels were reportedly withdrawing from 13 other villages yesterday.
The latest flare-up in fighting in the predominantly Roman Catholic nation’s south — the traditional Muslim homeland — comes at a crucial time in ongoing peace talks between the government and the rebels, who have been waging a bloody insurgency for self-rule for decades.
Rebel spokesman Eid Kabalu said the group was “repositioning” yesterday in line with a government agreement on Friday. He said the pace of the pullout depended on army troops holding their fire.
“They’re repositioning to a place safe and far enough to prevent exchanges of gunfire from both sides,” Kabalu said.
The Office of Civil Defense reported 159,123 people fled their homes in 56 villages in the province. Kabalu said most of those in 40 government-run evacuation centers were Christians, while Muslims tended to stay with relatives.
Kabalu lamented the high number of refugees, but called the situation “a product of war.”
“But who wants a conflict like this?” Kabalu said, adding the rebels did not want to prolong the suffering of civilians.
Government officials have said they have enough food and other supplies for the displaced. Senator Richard Gordon, head of the Philippine Red Cross, said he has asked for more information about the needs of the refugees.
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