MILF rebels raid Cotabato village, 3 killed

CAMP SIONCGO, Maguindanao — Heavily armed Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels raided yesterday a farming community in nearby Midsayap, North Cotabato and killed three farmers as they raked houses with B-40 anti-tank rockets and machine guns in what local officials described as a serious violation of the ceasefire agreement between the rebels and the government.

The Army’s 6th Infantry Division here identified the fatalities as siblings Salem and Salik Gambong and their relative, Faisa Kalusan, who all died on the spot from multiple gunshot wounds.

Col. Franklin del Prado, civil-military relations chief of the 6th ID, said local officials have confirmed that the rebels, led by Samal Masgal of the MILF, first surrounded a farming community in Barangay Malingaw, Midsayap and, without warning, sprayed the houses with bullets and shoulder-fired rockets.

Del Prado said the 6th ID has tasked all units in Midsayap and nearby towns to help the government’s ceasefire committee in documenting the incident in preparation for the filing of a formal complaint against Masgal and his followers with the GRP and MILF’s joint ceasefire committee.

Sources in Midsayap, among them Muslim religious leaders, said Masgal and his men, long wanted for a string of heinous offenses, could have carried out the harassment of residents in Malingaw to intimidate them and, subsequently, force them to shell out protection money on a regular basis.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu told Catholic radio station dxMS in Cotabato City that Masgal is indeed a member of the front and that their ceasefire committee will also investigate the incident.