Mob in Battle-Torn Philippine City Attacks, Kills Guerrilla

A mob hacked a Muslim rebel to death Thursday as fresh fighting broke out between Philippine troops and guerrillas on the outskirts of this southern city.

No other casualties were reported in the clashes, which occurred a day after the military allowed about 250 Muslim guerrillas safe passage out of Zamboanga in exchange for the release of 110 civilian hostages.

The new fighting involved about 30 rebel stragglers left behind in the guerrillas’ retreat Wednesday from this mainly Christian city of 750,000 people on Mindanao island, southern military commander Lt. Gen. Roy Cimatu said.

Zamboanga residents angered by the hostage-taking incident captured and killed a guerrilla armed with a machete while he was trying to escape from pursuing troops, a village official said on local radio.

“He was ganged upon and hacked to death,” the official said.

The killing occurred as radio stations in Zamboanga were bombarded with calls from residents irate at the military’s decision to allow the MNLF gunmen to leave the city with their weapons, which included assault rifles, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

The guerrillas took the hostages while fleeing a military bombardment of their hilltop base.

After a tense 36-hour standoff, the rebels released all their captives, many of them women and children, according to the deal.

Presidential spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao told reporters in Manila that the arrangement was necessary to defuse a potentially explosive situation and save the lives of hostages.

At least 25 guerrillas, five soldiers and one civilian were killed in Tuesday’s fighting.

The guerrillas are die-hard supporters of Moro National Liberation Front chief and former Gov. Nur Misuari, who is now detained in Malaysia and has been charged in the Philippines with rebellion.

Misuari led an MNLF revolt in pursuit of an Islamic state in the south of the mainly Roman Catholic Philippines for more than 20 years, until he signed a peace deal with the government in 1996, which led to his installation as governor of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.

Last week, hundreds of Misuari’s followers attacked military posts on Jolo island in a failed uprising in which more than 100 people were killed. Misuari was later captured by local police in Malaysia’s Sabah state.