By RJ ROSALADO
ABS-CBN Zamboanga
The commander of the Philippine Marines’ brigade in Basilan. Col. Rustico Guerrero, confirmed Tuesday that a Marine trooper was killed during the few hours of a firefight with a group of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) separatists in Tipo-Tipo in Basilan while three others were wounded.
The ranks of the wounded and the soldier killed ranged from private first class and corporal. The names of the soldiers were not released to media since families of the affected soldiers must to be inform first about the incident.
The military also said that 15 rebels were killed in the incident while several others were also badly wounded. This has to be confirm or verified first however, since the information came from some civilians who allegedly witnessed the gun battle in the area.
Guerrero explained that their troops were just doing a clearing operation in the area after receiving reports that members of the MILF occupied a part of the road heading towards Sumisip town, purportedly with the objective of stopping the conduct of elections for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in the town.
It was past 5 pm Monday when an estimated 300 MILF separatists withdrew from Tipo-Tipo. This came after the arrival of a reinforcement battalion of soldiers in the town.
Guerrero said they still are continuing the clearing operation in the vicinity of Tipo-Tipo. He said this would be to ensure that the MILF forces would no longer have an opportunity to conduct offensive operations against the authorities.
The cadaver of the soldier killed in the firefight was immediately brought to Camp Navarro Hospital in Zamboanga City, including the three wounded soldiers.
Guerrero said that the military is also planning to consolidate all evidences of alleged violence initiated by MILF during the ARMM elections in Basilan. He said that a formal complaint would be file to the MILF and government ceasefire coordinating committees saying that this was a clear violation of the ceasefire agreement between the government and the armed separatist group.
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