MILF commander captured in Lanao

TUBOD, Lanao del Norte — Government troops captured yesterday a ranking commander of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) who was wounded during a recent encounter with soldiers in Lanao del Sur.

The provincial information office reported that MILF commander Macaslang Angne was wounded during an encounter with members of the Army’s 101st Infantry Brigade in Madalum, Lanao del Sur last Sunday.

Angne, 64, who suffered gunshot wounds in the left leg and right shoulder escaped from Lanao del Sur and sought the assistance of Vice Mayor Cariso Dumarang of Munai, Lanao del Norte.

Dumarang accompanied Angne to the adjacent town of Bacolod where a barangay chairman identified as Cornelio Javier brought the rebel leader to the provincial hospital in Baroy town.

Dumarang later convinced Angne, who has a bounty for his arrest, to surrender to authorities.

Angne, an alleged leader of the group of notorious MILF Commander Abdulrahman Macapaar, alias Bravo, told the military that aside from seeking medical treatment for his wounds, he surrendered because he is tired of being a fugitive and wants to live a normal life.

Meanwhile, Maj. Eugene Batara Jr., spokesman for Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom), said it has already identified the areas where Commander Bravo and another rebel leader Ameen Pangalian have holed up.

Batara said Bravo has set up a layer of defense to delay the military offensive.

He said the movements of Macapaar and Pangalian are being monitored by the military and government troops have intensified pursuit operations.

MILF Commander Ameril Umbra Kato also dismissed as cheap military propaganda the insinuation by the Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom) that he and his men are planning to assassinate MILF chieftain Al-Haj Murad.

Maj. Randolph Cabangbang, spokesman for Eastmincom, announced that there are intelligence reports that Kato is planning to kill Murad after the top leaders of the MILF abandoned him and Commander Bravo.

Kato and Bravo each have a P10 million reward for their capture after they were charged with several counts of murder as a result of the MILF attacks in North Cotabato and Lanao del Norte in retaliation for the canceled signing of the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain (MOA-AD) last Aug. 5 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Kato said in a statement that the military simply wants to project disunity in the MILF.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said Kato and Bravo are legitimate MILF field commanders and are still loyal to the front’s chain of command.

“They may have violated some rules of the organization and they know they will be subjected to disciplinary action,” Kabalu said. — With Roel Pareño, John Unson