8 suspected renegade rebels caught in Central Mindanao

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (UPDATE) – Government security forces have captured at least eight members of a renegade Muslim rebel group behind the recent series of attacks in the southern Philippines, police said Tuesday, June 25.

The suspects, allegedly all followers of Ameril Umbra Kato, the founder of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, a splinter of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, were arrested as the military and police raided their hideout on Monday night, June 24, in the village of Bagumbayan, President Quirino of Sultan Kudarat.

Provincial police commander Superintendent Jomar Yap said the military have recovered homemade bomb components but one of the suspects said they were only forced to claim members of BIFF.

“We will look into and investigate of they are really members of the rebel groups because they were claiming they were even displaced by the hostilities since last week,” he said.

On June 21, members of BIFF also attack a camp of militiamen in the village of Bagumbayan, leaving a state militia and another civilian.

Earlier, Army Colonel Edmundo Pangilinan, head of the military’s 601st Brigade, said soldiers captured the encampment of Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in the border of boundary of President Quirino town in Sultan Kudarat and Gen. Salipada K. Pendatun town in Maguindanao.

He said the camp with bunkers and running trenches, maintained by guerrillas under Sukarno Sepal, one of the field commanders of Kato, can accommodate more than 200 fighters.

“We used 105 howitzer cannons to drive away the rebels. We have been mounting offensive against them since last Saturday,” the military commander said.

The military’s operation against the rebels was carried out following series of attacks perpetrated by the Kato’s men.

On June 23, the rebels separately raided two military detachments in remote villages of Midsayap, North Cotabato. A civilian was wounded in the attacks.

“Our clearing operation in the area on-going. Civilians who were displaced by the hostilities can now return to their respective villages,” Pangilinan said.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development said around 300 families were affected by the fighting.

“We provided relief goods to displaced people,” DSWD regional director Zorahayda Taha said.

Kato, the BIFF’s leader, used to be the commander of the MILF 105th Base Command. He was figured in several attacks on Christian communities, including in 2008 following the botched signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain between the government and MILF peace panels.

In August 2011, Kato’s men staged simultaneous attacks against government military detachments in the region, occupied a national highway for almost a week and harassed civilian communities. – Rappler.com