200 Islamic Separatists Attack Town in South Philippines; Up to 100 Killed
About 200 Islamic separatists attacked a southern Philippine town Tuesday, plundering banks and stores and burning buildings.
As many as 100 people died and 30 were injured before soldiers drove the rebels into the forest, military officials said. President Fidel V. Ramos declared a state of emergency in Ipil, a town of 50,000 people on the island of Mindanao about 480 miles south of Manila.
National police chief Recaredo Sarmiento said that police could confirm only that 23 people had been killed, but the military in Zamboanga and the interior secretary said at least 100 had died.
Some officials said the heavily armed men were members of Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim group fighting for a religious state in the southern Philippines.
The gunmen, who arrived on boats, trucks and a bus, waited for a signal to raid four of the town’s seven banks simultaneously at midday, according to radio reports and the military.
They also ransacked at least one department store and set many buildings on fire to confuse police and soldiers, said military spokesman Maj. Fredesvindo Covarrubias.
A former Abu Sayyaf officer who recently surrendered said Tuesday’s raid was retaliation for the arrest of six Muslim extremists over the weekend. “There are many more such attacks that will follow,” Edwin Angeles told the Manila television station ABS-CBN.
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