3 MILF members killed in Basilan hostilities

COTABATO CITY - Three members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front were killed in firefights with soldiers Tuesday in Barangay Ulitan in Ungkaya Pukan, Basilan.

Personnel of units under the 101^st Infantry Brigade and MILF members are locked in a showdown in Barangay Ulitan since, local executives and senior police officials in Basilan told reporters Wednesday.

Local officials have confirmed the hostilities in Barangay Ulitan, Ungkaya Pukan that sent hundreds of villagers running for their lives and left three MILF members dead.

Reports that reached Wednesday the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region and top officials of Bangsamoro ministries here stated that Basilan Gov. Jim Salliman had sent emissaries to help defuse the tension in the area to enable relief workers to attend to displaced villagers.

Basilan is a component-province of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

There is strong MILF presence in Ungkaya Pukan, one of 11 towns in Basilan that also covers the cities of Lamitan and Isabela.

Local executives have urged for a ceasefire after reports circulated Wednesday stating that the Army-MILF showdown in Barangay Ulitan has spilled over to two more areas, Mebak and Bato, both also in Ungkaya Pukan.

The sources, however, declined to provide reporters with information on how the trouble in Barangay Ulitan started.

Villagers, who requested anonymity, said the hostilities in Barangay Ulitan reportedly erupted when MILF members fired at soldiers, chasing Abu Sayyaf gunmen, for intruding into their enclave without prior notification.

The government and the MILF are bound by bilateral security compacts obliging both sides to cooperate in addressing security problems in areas where the group has enclaves.

Photo: The three fatalities of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front were immediately buried by companions. (From Al-Saud Omar)