Thousands Flee Philippine Assault
By JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press Writer
JOLO, Philippines (AP) - More
than 36,000 villagers have fled their homes to escape a heavy military assault on Muslim
rebels holding 17 hostages on a small southern Philippine island, officials said Monday.
Military officials said troops
were still searching for the hostages - 10 days after the assault began and the separatist
Abu Sayyaf rebels took off - and gave no indication of when the fighting would end.
Unconfirmed reports continued
to grow of civilian casualties and heavy damage to villages from the attack, which
involved some 4,000 troops. But the military continued to insist that only one civilian
has been killed died and four injured in the fighting.
Independent verification was
not possible because the military has blocked all access to many areas of Jolo island and
has attempted to prevent journalists from traveling there.
For the first time Monday, the
military escorted a group of 37 journalists for a brief, tightly controlled tour of the
island's capital and an evacuation center and then took them back to Zamboanga, a city 85
miles away.
Brig. Gen. Narciso Abaya, the
commanding officer who initially predicted the assault would be over in six days, said the
military is no longer estimating how long it will take.
``Before you can rescue them
you have to find them,'' he said. ``This is a very difficult mission. They just keep on
running. They don't fight us.''
Abaya acknowledged that the
military still had very little information about the location of three Malaysians
kidnapped Sept. 10 from a Malaysian resort and brought to Jolo by boat.
The Abu Sayyaf rebels are also
holding an American and 13 Filipinos.
Most of the 36,313 evacuees are
staying with relatives or friends, and less than one-third are in overcrowded evacuation
centers, military officials said.
In the village of Pasil, one
woman evacuee, Norain Iting, said she was told by the mother of a dead civilian that
troops had prevented her from recovering the body.
Many civilians on the
predominantly Muslim island appeared afraid to speak out, although some said they were
willing to sacrifice to get rid of the rebels.
For the first time Monday,
relief goods reached Pasil in the municipality of Indanan in the hills of western Jolo.
Cannons in Pasil bombarded
Mount Tumantangis in Indanan, where rebel commander Ghalib ``Robot'' Andang is reported to
have recently fled with his followers, Col. Romeo Tolentino said.
The military said 47 Abu Sayyaf
rebels have been killed and 56 others were reported dead. One government soldier has been
killed and six others wounded, it said.
Local officials have said
troops were nearing the rebel faction holding American Jeffrey Schilling, of Oakland,
Calif., in eastern Jolo, but Abaya refused to comment. Schilling was abducted Aug. 28 when
he visited a rebel camp with his Filipino wife, who is related to several rebels.
Two French television
journalists escaped from the rebels last week after being held since early July.
The government halted talks and
attacked the rebels on Sept. 16 after they kidnapped the three Malaysians despite a
promise to halt abductions while negotiations were underway.
Malaysian defense officials
said Monday they had deployed soldiers to guard 13 resort islands in the narrow waters
between the southern Philippines and Malaysia's Sabah state on Borneo to keep the Muslim
rebels away.
The security boost comes as the
Malaysian government struggles to deflect criticism that poor safety precautions enabled
Abu Sayyaf separatists to invade its waters to take the hostages.
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