Rebels raid town, 22 dead

At least 22 people were killed in the southern part of the country yesterday as security forces fought a band of about 70 guerrillas who stormed a remote town, officials said.

The military was able to recover most of the 13 civilians taken hostage by the secessionists in an early morning raid, including the town mayor's wife and son.

Initial reports indicated at least 20 were kidnapped, but the number was later reduced to 13.
Fleeing pursuing troops, the rebels withdrew into the forest taking four captives with them, officials said.

The fighting took place in the coastal town of Siocon in Zamboanga del Norte province, the military said.

Daniel Lucero, Armed Forces spokesman, said that in the aftermath of heavy street fighting in Siocon, government troops recovered six bodies of rebels. He said eight civilians, six policemen and two soldiers were also killed in the fighting.

Col. Lucero noted that among those wounded were 15 civilians, eight soldiers and four hostages, apart from 11 guerrillas of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). He said the rebels are still holding four villagers and using them as a shield against pursuing troops.

The MILF earlier held hostage 15 people, including the wife and son of Cesar Soriano, Siocon town mayor, who were rescued by security forces.

Soriano was formerly a field reporter of local television station, ABS-CBN, before he was elected Siocon mayor in 1998.

Guerrillas also torched three houses and blasted the town's municipal building and a market with small rockets, he said.

"Every one of us ducked while bullets were fired everywhere. Then suddenly, a mortar landed near where we were hiding. It hit us including my grandson," said 67-year-old Herminihilda Cudoy, as she soothed the boy, grimacing in pain.

Cudoy and her year-old grandson were airlifted by a military helicopter to a hospital in Zamboanga for treatment.

Col. Lucero said soldiers rescued Soriano's wife and son around 12.45 pm after a gunfight with rebels.

Guerrillas and soldiers engaged in close-quarter battle for hours inside the town's main business district, he said.

He explained that 150 rebels stormed the town around 1.45 am and seized a hospital, the municipal building and a market before seizing their hostages.

Maj. Gen. Roy Kyamco, Southern Command chief, said the rebels were led by Salip Aloy Alsre, the MILF division commander in the province.

He said the rebels fled towards the jungle after troops, backed by armoured vehicles, attacked them inside the hospital and the municipal building.

"We drove them away and troops are now pursuing them. I have ordered a naval blockade around Siocon to prevent the rebels from escaping," Kyamco told reporters in a news briefing.

He added that the rebels had split into smaller groups and were engaging pursuing troops in sporadic clashes. The MILF earlier in the day claimed killing 50 soldiers in the Siocon fighting but the military strongly denied this.

Eid Kabalu, rebel spokesperson, claimed that only two MILF fighters were killed and 11 others wounded in the fighting. He said the attack in Siocon was aimed against the military and not against civilians.

Siocon is adjacent to Sirawai town where the extremist Abu Sayyaf fled last year with three hostages. American Gracia Burnham was rescued alive but her husband, Martin and Filipino nurse Edibora Yap were killed in the crossfire.

Siocon is also the site of Toronto Ventures Incorporated, a Canadian mining company that has been the object of extortion and harassment by various rebel and crime groups in the area.

Siocon has been mentioned as one of the towns in south where planned joint military exercises by U.S. and Philippine soldiers will be held this month.