DILG, AFP declare BIFF and JIM as terrorist groups

From InterAksyon (Mar 17): DILG, AFP declare BIFF and JIM as terrorist groups



AFP forces in pursuit of BIFF elements in Midsayap. Photographed by Dennis Arcon.

Both the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) have declared the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and its faction, the Justice for Islamic Movement (JIM), as terrorist organizations and should be pursued relentlessly through law enforcement operations

A statement released to the media by the office of DILG Secretary Manuel "Mar" Roxas II, declared former BIFF leader and JIM founder "Mohammad Ali Tambako, commander of the Justice for Islamic Movement, a break-away group of the BIFF – a terrorist organization, and his [5] men are members of this group."

Tambako was arrested on Monday and brought to Manila by law enforcement authorities.

During a news conference at Villamor Air Base in Pasay City, AFP chief of staff General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. said that all factions of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) including the BIFF and JIM are terrorist organizations.

Senator Allan Peter Cayetano has previously alleged that the MILF had for a long time been coddling terrorists based on available facts and evidence he supposedly had in possession, but the MILF denied they were a terrorist organization.

Military and police officials are convinced that both the MILF and BIFF had long been in "peaceful co-existence" with high-value terrorists, such as Zulkifli Abdhir alias Marwan, and his cohort Filipino-bomber Abdul Basit Usman and other terrorists living within their communities.

Marwan was reported killed on January 25 in Mamasapano, Maguindanao during a raid on his lair by Special Action Force (SAF) police commandos, but Usman and another high-value target terrorist were able to escape. The mission, however, resulted in the death of 44 SAF commandos, 18 MILF and 5 innocent civilians killed.

The fleeing Usman and his men were reported coddled by Tambako.

"They will all face justice and the law. Tambako is implicated in the death of our 44 commandos, and he is among those who shielded Basit Usman. The arrest of Tambako proves that cooperative relations between AFP and PNP remain strong," the DILG said.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/107115/dilg-afp-declare-biff-and-jim-as-terrorist-groups