Troops, rebels team up against ‘pro-IS’ group
‘Win-win situation’
DATU SALIBO, Philippines, Sept 6, (Agencies): The Philippine military said it has teamed up with old foes behind a long-running Muslim insurgency as it looks to eject a breakaway gang of radical militants pledging loyalty to the Islamic State group.
As artillery shells and rockets pounded targets nearby, soldiers were seen mingling freely with several hundred Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) fighters who have joined an assault on gunmen in the restive southern island Mindanao.
The joint operation is the latest tactic by the Philippine government to try to stamp out pro-IS fighters, after months of battling a separate faction of militants who have besieged the city of Marawi, about 100 kms (60 miles) to the north.
Major-General Arnel dela Vega said militant groups had taken the opportunity “to build up their forces” while government troops were engaged in
Dela Vega
the Marawi conflict.
The alliance with MILF included “providing them with indirect fire support and even air support and other expertise,” he told AFP, adding that the awkwardness of fighting alongside former long-time foes had evaporated.
A rebellion by the 10,000-strong MILF has claimed more than 100,000 lives, by government estimates. The group signed a peace treaty in 2014 but will not disarm before the government passes a proposed law granting autonomy to the Muslim regions of the mainly Catholic nation.
But small factions continue to fight, as frustration builds over the bill, which has stalled in Congress.
The military is feeding intelligence to the MILF in the fight against about 60 militants led by Esmael Abdulmalik alias Abu Turaifi, a former MILF guerrilla leader, according to dela Vega.
But he said troop units would not merge with the MILF fighting groups because they had “different operational tactics and procedures” in the conflict, which began in early August on wild marshlands some 800 kms south of Manila.
“By and large the result has been substantially in our favour,” dela Vega said.
A television journalist working for AFP saw two military helicopters firing at the militant faction’s positions, while a police van collected MILF dead and wounded near the farming town of Datu Salibo on Tuesday.
Dela Vega said that the deal was a “win-win” situation for both the government and the MILF.
Mohagher Iqbal, a senior MILF leader, said the breakaway Abu Turaifi-led militants wanted to steal the MILF’s guerrilla army and had the same goals as the pro-IS militant faction seeking to carve out territory in Marawi.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte vowed on Wednesday to pursue cases against erring police officers after three controversial killings of youths.
Duterte said he has ordered the Department of Justice to investigate the killing of 19-year old Carl Angelo Arnaiz after he met his parents on Wednesday.
“I have always said we will protect the soldiers and the policemen, no doubt about it. But always, there has to be the element of the performance of duty and you do not kill defenceless persons,” Duterte said in speech before social security administration employees.
“I’m sorry but I will pursue the cases against the police and if need be, they should go to jail.”
Arnaiz, who police accused of robbery, died of five gunshot wounds and an autopsy report showed he was shot while on his back.
But police have said Arnaiz opened fire on them and paraffin tests showed gunpowder burns on his right hand.
The Philippine president ordered police on Tuesday to let journalists join raids in his crackdown on illegal drugs to disprove growing allegations of extrajudicial killings, but warned reporters they could get shot.
Duterte issued the order in a news conference after a televised Senate investigation into the allegations in which the national police chief, Ronald dela Rosa, wept over what he said was his exasperation over unfair allegations against his men.
“Now, this is an order: Bring the media and let them go first so that they can get the story from the beginning to the end,” Duterte said, explaining that when journalists are called in when a gunbattle is over, they’ll say, “Ah, they just dumped the guns on the suspects.”
“If you get shot, will you still believe that those (suspects) have no guns? Go ahead,” the president said, adding that journalists should take positions beside law enforcers during raids on suspected drug dealers’ hideouts.
MANILA:
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Philippine lawmakers on Wednesday rejected the nomination of the last leftist President Rodrigo Duterte included in his cabinet, removing the agrarian reform minister a year after he joined the government in a bid by Duterte to promote peace.
Duterte, after becoming president in June last year, offered places in his cabinet to members of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines to demonstrate his commitment to talks to end their longrunning insurgency.
The minister, Rafael Mariano, was one of two people the party nominated to serve in the cabinet.
Senator Vicente Sotto, chairman of a committee scrutinising cabinet appointments, said it had conducted an “exhaustive deliberation” then held a vote.
“The weight of the scales ultimately tipped the balance against the confirmation of the appointee,” Sotto told Senate.
He did not elaborate on the reason for the rejection but it came a few months after the government cancelled formal peace talks with the communist rebels.
Duterte wants to strike a peace deal with the communists but has been angered by continued violence. He says their demands are excessive and he has already made concessions.
Mariano, speaking to reporters after the hearing, denounced “big landlords, oligarchs, businessmen and big corporations”, saying they may have prevailed with his rejection but the farmers would win in the end.
“I may have failed to get the confirmation today but I will not stop serving our farmers,” he said.
Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella expressed regret over Mariano’s removal, saying he had promoted farmers’ rights and welfare and ensured their security of land tenure.