More than 180 killed in Philippine fighting-army

Wed Aug 27, 2008 6:25am EDT

(Adds request for peace monitors to remain)

MANILA, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Civilian casualties are mounting in the southern Philippines, where fighting between the army and Muslim guerrillas has killed at least 187 people in the past 10 days, the military and a human rights official said on Wednesday.

The military said about 60 civilians were killed in attacks by renegade Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) fighters on towns in the south and in mortar shelling. In addition, 110 rebels and 17 soldiers died, officers said.

Leila de Lima, head of the Commission on Human Rights, told reporters at least 20 civilians were killed in one town on Sunday as the military pursued guerrillas responsible for the attacks.

"About 20 civilians were killed three days ago due to heavy fighting in Piagapo town, but we can't tell whether these were results of direct attacks by the rebels or collateral damage by the bombing and shelling by military forces," she said. De Lima said the number of civilians killed or injured in the army offensive could be much higher but it was difficult to get a precise number because most of the areas remained inaccessible due to the fighting.

It is the worst violence for years in the Mindanao region of the Christian-majority nation where the rebellion has prevented any significant development of some of the richest mineral and hyrdrocarbon resources in Southeast Asia.

The fighting erupted early last week, days after a territorial agreement between the government and the rebels was halted by the Supreme Court over an appeal by Christian leaders.

Brigadier-General Jorge Segovia, chief of the army's operations centre, blamed rogue members of the MILF for the deaths of the civilians, saying troops have been avoiding attacks on local communities.

"We're not shelling or dropping bombs on villages," Segovia told Reuters, saying mortar fire from the rebels was erratic and falling on civilian areas. "It is these rogue MILF members who are behind burning of houses and murder of innocent civilians."

Segovia said troops had seized about 15 rebel strongholds in North Cotabato, Maguindanao and Lanao provinces after a week of combat operations to punish rogue Muslim rebel groups.

PEACE MONITORS

The government however has said it is committed to peace and has asked Malaysia to keep its peace monitors in the south after Aug. 31, when the mandate of an international team monitoring the ceasefire between the military and the MILF ends.

"We have made a request," Hermogenes Esperon, the president's peace adviser, told ambassadors of Muslim nations in Manila.

He said the two sides might hold a meeting in Kuala Lumpur or in Manila to agree on extending the international team's role in preventing conflict in the south from escalating.

"We face the prospect of losing a major pillar of the ceasefire mechanism and the peace process itself. Without the (team), it would be difficult to address the situation on the ground," Esperon said.

He said the government has asked 10 countries, including some Western states, to contribute to the peace monitoring team led by Malaysia, which has been brokering peace talks since 2001.

More than 360,000 people had been displaced by fighting in five provinces on the southern island of Mindanao, according to the National Disaster Coordinating Council. About half of them were housed in 152 temporary shelters. (Reporting by Manny Mogato; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Paul Tait)



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