MANILA : Former Muslim rebels ambushed government troops assigned to escort UN staff visiting the southern Philippines, killing two soldiers and wounding 12 others, the military said on Thursday ( Jan 23 ).
Wednesday’s attack came more than 10 years after the Moro Islamic Liberation Front ( MILF ) signed a peace agreement with Manila, ending a decades-old armed campaign initially for a separate state and later Muslim self-rule in Asia’s bastion of Catholicism.
A martial statement said the men were “fired upon by unidentified military characters” in Basilan island, triggering a gunfight that left two men dead and 12 others wounded.
The commander of the army system, Brigadier General Alvin Luzon, said on Thursday MILF gunmen attacked the troops who had been dispatched to “provide place protection” to a United Nations staff that was to attend a development task in the past MILF stronghold.
The UN explore was afterward aborted due to the shootout, he added.
The UN land company in the Philippines did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment.