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 military statement said the soldiers were “fired upon by unidentified armed personalities” in Basilan island, triggering a firefight that left two soldiers dead and 12 others wounded.
The commander of the army unit, Brigadier General Alvin Luzon, said on Thursday MILF gunmen attacked the troops who had been dispatched to “provide area security” to a United Nations team that was to visit a development project in the former MILF stronghold.
The UN visit was later aborted due to the firefight, he added.
The UN country office in the Philippines did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment.
