Three killed as rebels, troops clash in Basilan

Fighting erupted between security forces and suspected rebels on Christmas day in the southern island of Basilan, leaving one soldier and two gunmen dead, officials said.

Basilan army chief Col. Bonifacio Ramos said the fighting erupted around 6.15 am in the remote village of Lahi-Lahi in Tuburan town, where soldiers were searching for gunmen.

He said villagers tipped off the military about the presence of armed men, believed to be rebels.

He said a rebel-turned-soldier was killed in the clash. "One of our soldiers, a former rebel, was killed in the encounter," Ramos told reporters in Basilan.

Troops earlier recovered the body of one gunman and his automatic rifle in the village. After several hours soldiers found the remains of another gunman in Lahi-Lahi's outskirts.

"We are still tracking down the other lawless elements, who are believed wounded in the fighting. There were traces of blood in the bushes and enemy radio intercepts indicated quite a number of casualties on their side," he said.

Ramos could not say if the gunmen were members of the Abu Sayyaf or Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), but the two groups are known to operate in the town. Tuburan had been the site of frequent clashes between military and rebel forces.

Suspected Abu Sayyaf gunmen on Tuesday attacked a group of coconut farmers, killing one person and wounding another in Lantawan town, west of Tuburan. The rebels, numbering about 15, opened fire on the farmers in the village of Lawila, about 30km south of the provincial capital Isabela City, while on their way to a coconut plantation.

The motive of the attack remains unknown, but guerrillas have previously ambushed coconut farmers in many villages in the largely Muslim island, about 15 miles south of Zamboanga City.

Last year, Abu Sayyaf rebels kidnapped more than a dozen Christian and Muslim farmers near Lantawan town and executed 11 of them.

Meanwhile, eight members of a farming family were seriously wounded in a Christmas Eve grenade attack on a remote southern village, the military said yesterday.

Regional military spokesman Major Julieto Ando said the attack occurred late on Tuesday in the village of Inug-ug in North Cotabato's Pikit town.

He said an unidentified man tossed the grenade inside the house of Rogelio Canoy and fled on foot after the attack.

"Three of the wounded were women," Ando said. "We are still investigating the attack."