Thousands flee fighting in southern Philippines

2011-10-25 23:36:16 GMT+7 (ICT)

MANILA (BNO NEWS) -- More than 10,000 people have fled their homes in the southern Philippines as fighting between soldiers and suspected separatist rebels entered its second day on Tuesday, the Manila Bulletin reported.

Residents have been forced to flee their homes as aerial strikes and ground assaults targeting rebels entrenched at a remote village in Zamboanga Sibugay province continue. Adriano Fuego, a regional director of the Office of Civil Defense, said 10,385 residents from Payao and nearby Alicia town have evacuated.

Director-General Nicanor Bartolome, chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), said government forces sealed off all the escape routes for the nearly 100 gunmen who are currently holed up in a fortified encampment. "The area has already been cordoned off... it's just a matter of time before our law enforcement operation will be completely complied," Bartolome said.

The government said the fighting and the evacuations were an offshoot of a military operation against 'lawless elements' engaged in kidnappings. However, Muslim rebels have alleged their forces have been attacked as well, the Manila Bulletin reported.

Massive operations against separatist rebels are also being conducted in the provinces of Lanao del Norte and Basilan. The operations were launched following last week's clashes between security forces and the separatist rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (<deleted>) that left 35 people dead.

The <deleted> entered into peace negotiations with the government in 1997, but despite a ceasefire agreement, the southern Philippines continues to see violence. The rebel group has been fighting against the Government of the Philippines since 1977 for the establishment of an independent Islamic state in the southern Philippines.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-10-25

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