MAMASAPANO, Maguindanao - Members of the peace process team on Saturday went to the site of the 12-hour clash that killed 44 police commandos in a village here, to start gathering evidence ahead of their Feb. 7 formal parallel probe into the tragedy that stunned the nation.
The members of the International Monitoring Team (IMT) and the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) trekked to the site, beside a marsh in Barangay Tukanalipao, where the PNP Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) deployed on Jan. 25 over 300 men to arrest Southeast Asia's most wanted terrorist, Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan, and his Filipino cohort, bomb-maker abdul Basit Usman.
The IMT and CCCH teams noted the numerous bullet holes on trees and the rickety foot bridge, dried blood stains, pieces of cloth - all bearing mute witness to what government called a misencounter between the SAF and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), with which it has a cease-fire agreement. The area is considered controlled area of the MILF, but its breakaway group, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), also has a presence there.
The SAF survivors said primary target Marwan - a Malaysian linked to the 2002 Bali bombing among others - had been gunned down when he drew a gun as the police went to his nipa hut. Unable to bring his body after his security men were alerted and started shooting, the SAF men claimed they cut off one finger for DNA testing.
Usman was reported to have escaped the SAF dragnet.
The second batch of police commandos was trapped by heavy gunfire from the BIFF and the more dominant MILF force until they ran out of ammunition.
Among the physical evidence seen by the IMT-CCCH team Saturday was an unexploded M-205 ammunition apparently belonging to the SAF.
The independent verification was done as preliminary preparation for the formal investigation to start on Feb. 7.
Civilians in the area told the team they are scared and tired of the fighting and of having to evacuate each time violence erupts.
[Video report]
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/104161/video--independent-peace-monitors-visit-saf-44-killing-field-in-mamasapano
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