Airstrikes hit Moro rebels | Bangkok Post: breakingnews

MANILA : The Philippines on Monday launched its first air strikes in three years against Muslim separatist rebels in the restless south, the military said, after a series of attacks left 35 people dead.

Two OV-10 attack planes bombed a remote village on the edge of Payao town on Mindanao island, where Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels have been entrenched since last week, army spokesman Major Harold Cabunoc said.The 12,000-strong MILF has waged a rebellion since the 1970s in Mindanao, the country's southern third, which the minority Muslims consider their ancestral homeland.And while the government has been involved in peace talks with the rebel leadership since 2003 and the two sides are currently observing a ceasefire, the group targeted in Monday's bombing was a breakaway faction."The bombing attacks began at 11.30 am today," Cabunoc said."About 100 heavily armed bandits are holed up in their bunkers and running trenches."There were no immediate reports of casualties, but the military said about 3,000 civilians had already fled the area last week.He said a combined contingent of 200 police and military commandos on the ground were also involved in the operation.Regional military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Randolph Cabangbang said the gunmen targeted by the air strikes were rogue MILF rebels who were involved in kidnapping and other criminal activities.The air raids were the first against the MILF since 2008, when the military also used aircraft to bombard followers of two rebel commanders who had launched deadly raids across Mindanao that left about 400 dead, he said."This is the first time since 2008, but I would like to stress the (rebels) we are after are operating outside the control of the MILF leadership," Cabangbang told AFP.The same group of rebels was blamed for ambushes that killed four soldiers and four policemen last Thursday.Those...