The chief of staff of the Philippine Armed Forces Hermogenes Esperon said on Monday punitive military actions against suspects involved in the beheading of 10 government soldiers will be launched on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters when inspecting another Marine battalion to be deployed in Basilan, 900 kilometers south of Manila where the soldiers were killed, Esperon said:" It's a go. D-day is still tomorrow".
The soldiers, all belonging to the Philippines Marines, were ambushed and later found beheaded or mutilated on July 10. They were allegedly looking for the abducted Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi when attacked by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a secessionist group based in Mindanao.
Bossi was released by his kidnappers one week after the soldiers were killed. Bossi said his kidnappers belonged to another rebel group, the Abu Sayyaf Group.
Meanwhile, a Malaysia-led international monitoring team and a coordinating committee on truce between government and the MILF are investigating the beheadings and are yet to give the results of their investigations in the coming days.
The military has deployed thousands of troops in Basilan, an island province in southwest Mindanao, in preparation for " punitive actions" against the MILF, while ruling out an all-out war.
The military and police have identified 130 MILF members as suspects in the beheadings and warrants of arrest have been issued against them by judicial authorities.
Hundreds of civilians in Basian have fled home in anticipation of imminent fightings.
The MILF signed a truce agreement with the government in 2003 and talks between them almost broke down last year due to disputes over ancestral lands in Mindanao or how many villages should be controlled by MILF.
Source: Xinhua
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