Sixteen dead in Philippine massacre, rebels blamed

August 5, 2000
Web posted at: 3:48 PM HKT (0748 GMT)

MANILA, August 5 (Reuters) -- Suspected Moslem rebels shot and killed 16 people, many of them school students, in the southern Philippines after dragging them out of vehicles they were travelling in, officials said on Saturday.

Some 100 armed men, believed to be Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels, dragged the victims from three local public vehicles in the province of Cotabato on Friday evening, robbed and killed them, provincial governor Emmanuel Pinol told reporters.

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The MILF denied the group was responsible and suggested it was the work of bandits.

"Governor Pinol always puts the blame on the MILF," Eid Kabalu, a spokesman for the rebel group, told Reuters by telephone. "We don't have any knowledge or participation in this incident."

"It's a hold-up case," he added. "We believe many Moslems are involved (as victims) in this incident."

Officials initially said all the victims were Christians but later clarified that one of the drivers and his two-year-old child, both among the dead, were Moslems.

Many of the dead were students studying in a local school who were on their way home, the officials said. At least 10 people were wounded and taken to hospital, they added.

Military officials told Reuters soldiers had fanned out in the area, some 920 km (570 miles) southeast of Manila, in an attempt to apprehend the killers.

The MILF is fighting for an independent Moslem state in the Mindanao region of the southern Philippines, where most of the Roman Catholic nation's Moslem minority lives.

The military overran the MILF's headquarters last month and the rebels have since been dispersed. They have since been blamed for a series of bomb blasts in Mindanao and attacks on troops.

The rebels have also been blamed for two massacres of civilians in Mindanao over the past month but have denied responsibility.

At least 13 people were killed on July 22 when armed men opened fire on a truck carrying agricultural workers and 21 people were rounded up and killed a week before that in a village also in Mindanao.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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