April 4, 1995, Seattle Times News Services, Philippine Rebels Burn, Plunder City,

April 4, 1995, Seattle Times News Services,  Philippine Rebels Burn, Plunder City, 

Tuesday, 

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - About 200 heavily armed Muslim renegades ransacked a southern Philippine town today, robbing banks and stores and battling troops flown in to quell the insurgency. At least 100 people died in the fighting.

President Fidel Ramos ordered police and soldiers flown in by helicopter to "shoot to kill" the bandits, and he declared a state of emergency in Ipil, a town of 50,000 people about 480 miles south of Manila.

The gunmen arrived in boats and a bus, and some were waiting in position when the signal was given for them 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.

In addition to the 100 people killed, he said, 30 others were wounded as the attack turned Ipil into a virtual battlefield. Radio reports said that in late afternoon, thick smoke from burning buildings blanketed the town.

A local military commander said he sent armored personnel carriers after the bandits, who had holed up inside the compound of the public works office. After 30 minutes of heavy fighting, the bandits fled toward a nearby forest, said the commander, Col. Roberto Santiago.

It was not immediately known how many, if any, of the casualties were raiders.

Among those killed were the town police chief, the commander of the 10th Infantry Battalion stationed in Ipil and a local bank manager.

Covarrubias said the gunmen belonged to a breakaway Muslim rebel faction that has turned to banditry. Interior Secretary Rafael Alunan said a flag of the group, Abu Sayyaf, was recovered in Ipil.

Edwin Angeles, a former Abu Sayyaf officer who surrendered to authorities recently, said the attack was in retaliation for the arrest of six alleged Arab Muslim extremists in a Manila suburb last Saturday. The men, who allegedly had ties to the defendants in the World Trade Center bombing, are accused of plotting terrorist attacks.

"There are many more such attacks that will follow," Angeles told Manila television ABS-CBN.