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Villages destroyed by assault on Sayaf kidnappers |
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September 24, 2000
TALIPAO, Philippines (AP) - A military assault on Muslim rebels holding 17 hostages on a southern Philippine island has destroyed several villages and sent more than 14,000 people fleeing from their homes, officials said Saturday. The officials' accounts are first confirmed reports of extensive damage to civilian areas during the attack on Jolo island by thousands of military troops backed by planes, cannons and missile-equipped helicopters. Local police said between 100 and 200 bamboo houses were burned in the fighting in Bandang and Samak, destroying the two villages in the municipality of Talipao. They said the villages were bombed by military planes but declined to say which side had set the houses ablaze. The fighting in the villages, an Abu Sayyaf rebel stronghold, killed more than 30 rebels but no civilians, the police said. The area and other nearby villages remained closed to civilians Saturday, a week after the start of the assault, to prevent the rebels from returning. The military, which has tightly controlled information about the attack, insists only two civilians have been killed despite numerous unconfirmed reports of many civilian casualties. On Saturday, the military reported the first death of a soldier and said a rebel commander, Radullan Sahiron, had been seriously injured. Three other rebels were killed, bringing the confirmed guerrilla death toll to 28, with 60 others believed dead, it said. Six soldiers have been injured, it said. Residents of the town of Luuk, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) east of Talipao, said they saw American hostage Jeffrey Schilling being led by two large groups of Abu Sayyaf rebels fleeing from the military, Vice Governor Munib Estino said Saturday. Schilling's ankles and wrists were tied with ropes and he had cuts on his arms and legs, apparently from fleeing through the jungle with the rebels, they said. Villagers said they saw a rebel kick Schilling from behind as they walked. "All the people who saw Schilling pitied him," Estino said. Schilling, 24, of Oakland, California, is being held by a rebel faction led by Abu Sabaya, the rebels' spokesman. Separate factions are believed to be holding three Malaysians and 13 Filipinos. The separatist Abu Sayyaf have kidnapped scores of people since March. Most have been released, with Libya and Malaysia reportedly paying more than dlrs 15 million for 19 foreigners. The government stopped negotiations and attacked after more people were kidnapped. Schilling, who became a Muslim in 1994, visited a rebel camp on Aug. 28 with his Filipino wife, who is Sabaya's second cousin. He says handful of reporters on Jolo were restricted to its capital, also named Jolo. In a trip Saturday outside the capital to Talipao, an Associated Press reporter saw many abandoned homes. Lines of soldiers with M-16 rifles and bandoliers of ammunition around their necks marched along the roads, accompanied by armored personnel carriers. Soldiers in tarp-covered foxholes guarded the roads. More than 6,000 villagers crowded evacuation centers in Talipao's town capital, Mayor Tambrin Tulawie said. Dirty children played in dank-smelling schools used as evacuation centers, with 60 people per classroom. Mothers cooked over wooden stoves improvised from cookie tins on the muddy dirt floors. Others took shelter outside under tarps to escape the crowding. "It's very difficult," said Nurain Isin, 15, as she looked after her five sisters and brothers. At least 14,000 civilians have fled the fighting and are either staying with relatives or in evacuation centers, the military says. Negotiators who arranged the earlier release of other Malaysian hostages said they had been asked to begin talks with the rebels on the remaining three, indicating the military attack may not be going as well as the government had hoped. National Security Adviser Alexander Aguirre said he was unsure how long the assault - originally estimated at three to six days - would continue. So far, its main success has been the escape last Tuesday of two French journalists who were also hostages. The government's decision to attack the rebels has been widely supported by Filipinos. |
