MILF ‘friendly troops’ deployed in Maguindanao

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The MILF has deployed 'friendly troops' to prevent further clashes with breakaway group BIFM in Maguindanao

File photo of BIFF fighters

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Muslim rebels currently in peace talks with the government are trying to avoid clashing with their former allies behind several attacks in the past few weeks in Mindanao.

The rebels have deployed “friendly forces” in certain towns and villages targeted by the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement (BIFM), according to Ghadzali Jaafar, vice chairman for political affairs of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). BIFM is a breakaway group of the MILF.

Jaafar explained that members of the MILF’s National Guard unit, aka Task Force Etihad, are now in Maguindanao province to help defuse tensions which could lead to further clashes with the BIFM and widespread violence in Mindanao.

“We began deploying after they promised us that they will not make any moves that will destroy the unity of the people,” the official from the country’s largest rebel group said.

Kato still at large

A month ago, BIFM fighters, led by Ameril Umbra Kato, attacked military detachments and villages in Maguindanao, leaving scores of troops dead and forcing more than 7,000 families to flee the region.

Kato, who used to be in charge of the MILF 105th Base Command, is suspected to have been behind the attacks on civilians in North Cotabato in 2008 after the Supreme Court rejected the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain between the government and the MILF.

The rogue commander leads the 1,000-strong armed wing of the BIFM, which broke away from the MILF two years ago.

Rogue commander weak

MILF spokesman Von Al Haq claimed that Kato is still hiding somewhere in Datu Piang town in Maguidnanao but is apparently weak and can hardly speak because he is not getting enough medical supplies for a complicated illness he suffers.

“His condition is deteriorating faster and only his wife and son are attending to him,” Al Haq said.

As for the military, the Armed Forces of the Philippines leadership hopes that the MILF will help them in tracking down Kato, but Al Haq stressed that the strategy must first be discussed and agreed on by both sides.

Kato, his commanders Muhammad Ali Tambako, Badrudin Silongan, Kagi Karialan, Abu Missry and 104 other BIFM combatants have all been charged by the Criminal Investigation and Detection for their role in the latest violence in Maguindanao. – Rappler.com

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