ZAMBOANGA, Philippines, April 5 -- Philippine security forces Wednesday searched the shorelines of southern Philippines for about 200 thugs who burned and pillaged a commercial district, killing at least 42 people, military and local officials said. Defense Secretary Renato de Villa said the troops were looking for a group of heavily armed men who raided the commercial district of Ipil, Zamboanga del Sur, 490 miles (784 km) south of Manila, at mid-day Tuesday. De Villa said the rebels destroyed at least 150 establishments and damaged hundreds more. He estimated property damage at 400 million pesos ($15.5 million). Interior Secretary Secretary Rafael Alunan theorized the raid was retaliation for the arrest of six suspected Arab terrorists linked to the local Abu Sayyaf Group, a shadowy Muslim extremist group suspected of kidnappings and armed robberies in the area. Military officials claimed that an Abu Sayyaf flag was recovered. The terrorists, riding buses and small boats and brandishing assault rifles, grenade launchers and anti-tank weapons, swooped down on the predominantly Christian town of Ipil and looted at least four banks and burned all the buildings, including the municipal hall and fire stations, the military said. Maj. Teddy Cabarubias, spokesman for the Armed Forces Southern Command, said the dead included Police Major Rolando Villaviaje and army Major David Sabido. Scores of wounded were airlifted to hospitals in Zamboanga City. The death toll was expected to rise because many people are still missing and perhaps trapped inside burning buildings. Government reinforcements arrived 30 minutes after the surprise attack but were pinned down by heavy gunfire, local radio reports said.
The gunmen torched movie theaters, department stores and took many hostages as they broke into groups, one heading for a nearby rubber plantation while the others withdrew toward the beach. Sketchy military reports said pursuing troops captured two terrorists at checkpoints established outside theh town. De Villa called the terror raid the worst since 1970 when Muslim rebels attacked and burned the town of Jolo, Sulu, at the height of the seccessionist movement in the southern Philippines. Radio reports from Ipil said at least 38 bodies were recovered and soldiers and rescue teams were still searching the rubble. President Fidel Ramos condemned the attack and issued a shoot-to-kill order to pursuing troops.
