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DAVAO CITY, Philippines – The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said it suffered casualties as local forces in Basilan clashed with soldiers on Monday morning, April 15.
Abbas Salung, a member of the MILF Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH), said a composite team from the Philippine Army allegedly raided a Moro rebel camp in Sitio Badja Maluha, Barangay Baguindan in Tipo-Tipo.
“Firefight ensued for nearly 30 minutes between the MILF forces under Ustaz Hamzah Sapanton, Provincial Committee Chairman, and the raiding government forces [of] more or less 40 men,” Salung said.
The MILF is still consolidating reports from their local forces to determine the exact number of casualties and extent of damage.
The MILF CCCH will be filing complaints against the government for ceasefire violations, Salung said. “The encounter had already ceased but actions must be undertaken by the government to avoid recurrence of the firefight between the government and MILF forces and to prove that the government forces are indeed upholding the policy of the PNoy government for the primacy of the peace process,” Salung commented.
The government and the MILF are in the middle of hammering out a final peace pact. The latest round of talks in Kuala Lumpur ended last week, with both sides acknowledging the urgency to come up with a peace agreement.
Salung said the Army did not coordinate with them regarding the military operation in the area, a known territory of the rebel group.
“Clearly there is a deliberate act to undermine the ceasefire and the peace talks between the government and MILF, which only compounds the increasing doubts of the public over the sincerity of the government in the peace process,” said Ustaz Sapanton said.
The military’s Western Mindanao Command said it is still gathering reports from its ground units.
The CCCH of both parties, as well as the International Monitoring Team, recorded no clashes between government troops and MILF fighters last year. – Rappler.com
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