A woman holds her baby at an evacuation center in Pagalungan, Maguindanao. (photo by Jo Henry)
Continued fighting between units of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and its breakaway faction, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, has forced almost 15,000 persons to flee their homes in Pikit, North Cotabato and Pagalungan, Maguindanao.
This developed as the BIFF leadership said they had written their counterparts in the MILF asking for a ceasefire.
The hostilities between MILF fighters led by Commander Jack Abas and the BIFF led by Shiek Muhiddin Animbang, alias “Commander Karialan,” began Saturday in Sitio Tatak, Barangay Kalbugan in Pagalungan, “deep inside the Maguindanao marshland,” according to the military.
The affected areas are within the so-called Buliok Complex -- where the boundaries of Maguindanao, North Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat provinces meet.
Among the confirmed casualties is MILF commander Datukong Ampuan, alias “Falcon,” of the 108th Base Command.
Although the MILF claims to have killed at least four BIFF gunmen, the splinter group’s spokesman Abu Misrie Mama, acknowledged only one fatality and five wounded on their side while claiming to have killed five MILF fighters.
Pikit Disaster Risk Reduction and Management officer Tahira Kalantungan reported 9,036 residents had evacuated from Barangays Barongis, Kabasalan, Bulol, Rajah Muda and Bago Inged, many of them seeking refuge with relatives, the rest in local madrasas or schools.
Kalantungan said the fighting has also forced the suspension of classes in the affected villages.
Another 5,000 persons have evacuated in Pagalungan and have been staying at the municipal gym, the market and schools, according to lawyer Laisa Alamia, executive secretary of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/105217/close-to-15000-displaced-by-milf-biff-clashes
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