MANILA, (PNA) — Armed Forces of Philippines (AFP) public affairs office chief Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala said that the death toll for the Zamboanga City stand-off, which is now on its seventh day, has now reached 59 mark.
He added that this can be broken down into three for the AFP, six also for the Philippine National Police and 51 for the MNLF-Misuari faction.
Zagala also placed the number of rogue MNLF captured or surrendered at 19.
He said that this figure is as of late Saturday.
“Our operations are still ongoing and our forces are gaining ground and we are pushing ground. A lot of positive things have happened which I cannot yet say for the moment,” Zagala stressed.
The AFP public affairs office chief estimates that the remaining MNLF forces are only at 100 but declined to give the latter’s position but as this could compromise ongoing military operations.
He attributes the decrease to the MNLF numbers to serious casualties inflicted by the government.
The MNLF force was initially placed at 180 to 200.
Zagala also refused to give an exact timetable on when the operations will be finished or concluded.
Around 180 hostages are still at the hands of the MNLF, he added.
As this develops, Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Region 9 director Adriano Fuego placed the number of evacuees due to the crisis at 10,950 families which is equivalent 58,051 persons.
These people are being sheltered in 22 evacuation centers.
Fuego said that around 25,500 food packs from the Red Cross were already distributed.
While the Department of Social Welfare and Development Region 9 has distributed P1,945,210 worth of food with the Zamboanga City government giving P1.33 million of assorted relief aid.