MILF commander, village chief son killed in ambush by rival rebel commander in Maguindanao

From MindaNews (Aug 21): MILF commander, village chief son killed in ambush by rival rebel commander in Maguindanao

A brigade commander of Moro Islamic Liberation Front and his son, a barangay chairman, were killed in an ambush by a group of another MILF commander in Sultan sa Barongis town in Maguindanao.

Tanialap Utap, the town administrator of Sultan sa Barongis, confirmed the killing took around noontime Wednesdaywhen the father and son victims was traversing the area of Barangay Tugal aboard a motorcycle.

Senior Supt. Rodelio Jocson, Maguindanao provincial police director, identified the victims as Kumander Tato Mohammad and Ankayamat barangay chairman Sadam Mohammad.

“We had conducted investigation and identified the suspects based on the statement of the witnesses,” Jocson said, relaying the statement of his police chief on the ground, Inspector Cesar Ibal Jr.

Investigation revealed that the killing was headed by a certain Kumander Taya, supposedly of the MILF’s national guard and long-time adversary of Mohammad. There is reportedly a long-standing land dispute and political rivalry among the two.

 

Assemblyman Khadaffy Mangudadatu, representative of the second district of Maguindanao in the Regional Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and vice chair of the committee on public order and security, urged the MILF central committee to resolve the internal problem among their ground commanders.

“Let the CCCH (Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities) and AHJAG (Ad-hoc Joint Action Group) do their job”, he said.

Mangudadatu also called the attention of Maguindanao Task Force Reconciliation and Unification (MTFRU) to immediately intervene in the area to contain any escalation of the conflict and safeguard the interest of the civilians.

Jocson added that the Maguindanao police has coordinated with the local government of Sultan sa Barongis and the MILF hierarchy to extend all efforts to curb any attempt of escalation of conflict.

According to Toks Upam, of the MILF-CCCH’s monitoring team in Maguindanao, the MILF central committee has called the attention of the ground commanders from both parties for an emergency meeting today (Thursday) in the MILF’s main headquarters in Camp Darapanan, Sultan Kudarat town in Maguindanao to address the conflict.

But sources revealed that situation in the area is still volatile at of press time.

http://www.mindanews.com/top-stories/2014/08/21/milf-commander-village-chief-son-killed-in-ambush-by-rival-rebel-commander-in-maguindanao/