Government troops overrun 2 satellite camps of Kato's group

MANILA, Philippines - Government troops on Tuesday seized two satellite camps in Maguindanao of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement (BIFM) headed by rogue commander Ameril Umbra Kato after days of intense fighting that left more than 30 Moro rebels dead since Aug. 5. 

The Second Scout Ranger Battalion was pulled out from its anti-insurgency duties in Compostela Valley and dispatched to Maguindanao to augment ongoing operations against Kato and his men, said AFP spokesman Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos.

“Our combined ground and air assaults led to the capture of the two BIFM satellite camps,” Burgos said.

The satellite camps are located at Hill 166 in Barangay Maig in Datu Unsay town and Hill 714 in the vicinity of Camp Omar, Kato’s main enclave.

Earlier, Army troops overran a BIFM enclave along the Cotabato-General Santos City Highway.

Quoting ground reports, Burgos said more than 30 rebels have been killed and dozens wounded since the conflict broke out last Aug. 5 when Kato’s men launched simultaneous attacks on 11 towns and key Army installations in Maguindanao and North Cotabato.

The fatalities included four soldiers and a policeman from the Special Action Force.

Meanwhile, police authorities in South Cotabato have been placed on red alert following the reported threat of the BIFM to stage bomb attacks in Koronadal City.

Senior Superintendent Delfin Randolph, South Cotabato police director, said Kato’s group was allegedly behind the series of bomb explosions that rocked North Cotabato and Maguindanao last week.

Delfin said text messages have circulated that the BIFM would also launch bomb attacks in Koronadal City and Central Mindanao.

Police have set up checkpoints in strategic areas in the city and in other parts of the province to prevent the entry of improvised explosives.

The 27-member Regional Assembly in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) will investigate last week’s attacks by the renegade Moro rebels in Maguindanao to determine their implications on the peace process and the reform agenda for the region.

The central leadership of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has already asked the national government to neutralize Kato’s group.

Maj. Gen. Rey Ardo, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said there is an urgent need for the construction of farm-to-market roads in the conflict-stricken towns of Datu Saudi, Datu Unsay Shariff Aguak and Guindulungan.

Acting ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman lauded the military for re-opening the Cotabato-General Santos City Highway, which the bandits occupied for four days last week.

He also commended the 1st Mechanized Brigade under Col. Mayoralgo de la Cruz, and the Army’s 601st Infantry Brigade led by Col. Edmundo Pangilinan for the seizure of the BIFM’s two major camps.– With Ramil Bajo, John Unson