13 soldiers killed in Saranggani – MILF

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said on Sunday it had killed thirteen soldiers who attacked in a volatile area in Saranggani Province.

Luwaran.com reported 13 soldiers died after they attacked the 107th Base Command – Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF) at Barangay Pananag, Maasim town.

The Armed Force of the Philippines (AFP) casualty figure was taken from a source privy to where the dead soldiers were brought, the MILF's official website said.

According to the MILF source of information, an ambulance was used to transport the slain and wounded soldiers.

"The soldiers thought that they were brought or deployed in Mindanao purposely to help in maintaining secured, orderly, honest and peaceful ARMM elections," it said.

"This was the mission the young soldiers told their families that they left and not for any combat operation against the MILF forces."

The past days AFP had been hunting down some elements of the 105th Base Command in the Province, who allegedly attacked the military in Maasim last week, the MILF said.

"Instead of engaging the elements of the 105th Base Command, the military attacked the forces of the 107th Base Command manning the Post 1 of their Camp Khalid Bin Walid at Pananag," it said.

Kumander Umbra Kato, who has a P5 million bounty on his head for leading the attack in 15 villages in North Cotabato early this month, heads the 105th Base Command of the MILF.

The military, on the other hand, denied that 13 of their troops were killed in the attack, according to a military report reaching here.

The report quoted Armed Forces spokesman Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres as saying that four soldiers were wounded in the offensive.

The MILF said Saturday's firefight forced hundreds of civilians from the villages of Pananag, Lumasal, Kanolo and Nomoh, all of Maasim town, to flee their homes.

It said the residents sought assistance from Gov. Miguel Dominguez who was reported to have fueled the military cleansing operations against the MILF.

As this developed, the MILF asked the United Nations to intervene and stop an "impending humanitarian disaster."

It said non-government and humanitarian organizations such as the International Community of Red Cross, Non-Violence Peace Force, Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society, Bantay Ceasefire, United Bangsamoro Youth Organizations have made efforts to extricate the trapped civilians.

"This traumatic case is a serious infringement of human rights, International Humanitarian Law, Geneva Conventions Protocol II and can spur communal and ethnic conflicts between Muslims and Christians, a humanitarian crisis created by the state and government," the MILF said.

"A United Nations mandated intervention is sought to come in order to an impending humanitarian disaster," it added.