MNLF forces still in Abu Sayyaf lairs in Patikul

ZAMBOANGA CITY - Fighters of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) have not withdrawn from the jungles of Patikul town in Sulu province, where they captured camps of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) after fierce firefights last week.

Sulu provincial police director Senior Superintendent Antonio Freyra said the MNLF forces under Ustadz Habier Malik maintained its presence and are remained holed out in the captured Abu Sayyaf lairs.

Freyra said tensions have also ceased in the area after the Abu Sayyaf militants retreated.

“They are still in the area. For what purpose we don’t know yet,” Freyra said, referring to Malik's group.

The intermittent fighting last week left 29 killed, including 8 MNLF fighters and 21 ASG members, when the Moro fighters attacked the militants in an effort to force the bandits to release their captives, particularly Jordanian journalist Baker Atyani.

Freyra said that the presence of the MNLF forces in the captured Abu Sayyaf lairs could be part of the rebels’ effort to prevent the militants from regrouping and reoccupying the area.

“While all these could be speculation, but of course the MNLF forces consider the Abu Sayyaf as lawless elements,” Freyra added.

Habib Mujahab Hashim, MNLF’s senior member to the central committee and chairman of the Islamic Command Council (ICC), said reports on the ground indicated that some of members of Malik's group have pulled out.

“But it was not a total pull out in the area,” Hashim said.

Hashim lauded the MNLF efforts in reaching out with the families of the slain Abu Sayyaf bandits to explain the circumstances of their operation.

“It’s good that efforts are being done to prevent the possible continuous bloodshed,” Hashim said.