5 killed as rival MILF bands clash in Lanao
Killed were MILF commander Maunara Dumatar and his men Kasan Gandamra, Asrab Taub, Apo Burob, and Mama Utingan.
The rival MILF band was led by Orak Tawakil Pangadag.
Chief Superintendent Joel Goltiao, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) police director, said the groups of Dumatar and Pangadag have long been fighting over strategic patches of land in areas where they both operate.
Local officials in Lanao del Sur are helping defuse tension between the two groups to forestall the escalation of hostilities, he added.
Eid Kabalu, MILF spokesman, told reporters emissaries of their central committee are now initiating means to pacify the feuding groups.
“All efforts are being done to separate the two groups and settle their misunderstandings peacefully,” he said.
The Malaysian-led International Monitoring Team, which is helping oversee the ceasefire between the government and the MILF, has also sent a team to work out the repositioning of the two forces away from populated areas.
In Zamboanga del Norte, three policemen were wounded when MILF rebels ambushed them in Sibuco town, police said yesterday.
The policemen led by Chief Inspector Parson Asadil were on patrol when they were attacked at around
Three of the policemen, including Asadil, were wounded in the initial attack but managed to retaliate in a brief firefight, said Senior Superintendent Mario Yanga, Zamboanga del Norte police director.
Soldiers from the Army’s 44th Infantry Battalion based in the nearby town of
Maj. Eugene Batara Jr., Armed Forces Western Mindanao Command spokesman, said they have received reports that some of the attackers were also wounded in the encounter.
Police and the military believe that the attack was triggered by the arrest of an MILF commander in Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay earlier this week, he added.
The wounded policemen, including one in critical condition, were airlifted to
In another development, the MILF and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) are close to uniting through the Libyan-sponsored Bangsamoro Solidarity Council, former Libyan ambassador Salem Adam said yesterday.
In an e-mail, Adam, Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi’s emissary to both the MNLF and MILF, said leaders of the two separatist groups are open to the idea of “uniting” to hasten the
His meetings with leaders of the MILF and MNLF last Jan. 29 were a follow-up to the initiative of Gaddafi’s son, Saiful Al-Islam, during a meeting with them and ARMM leaders in Makati City last Dec. 13, Adam said.
Cotabato City Mayor Muslimin Sema, MNLF secretary-general, has confirmed Adam’s meeting with them and representatives of MILF.
“There was reaffirmation by the MNLF and MILF of the willingness to help each other in furthering the peace process,” he told The STAR via mobile phone.
Also present in the three meetings presided over by Adam were ARMM Assemblyman Hatimil Hassan, Mayor Alvarez Isnaji of Indanan, Sulu, Habib Mujahab Hashim, Abu Amri Taddik, and Uttoh Salem Cutan.
The MILF delegation was composed of Kabalu, Khalifa Nando and Abusaliha Macacuna.
Kabalu said they will present first to their central committee the “joint peace-building consensus” they discussed with Adam and the MNLF.
“Initially, we have understood that the BSC would be like a super council where both the MILF and the MNLF will be amply represented and where all concerns and issues besetting the Moro people can be discussed under the spirit of mutual cooperation and solidarity,” he said.
Adam said he is elated with the manifestations by the MILF and the MNLF of their willingness to join together in finding peaceful solutions to all problems besetting
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