More and more civilians from the adjoining municipalities of
Mamasapano, Shariff Saydona, Shariff Aguak and Datu Saudi Ampatuan, all in
Maguindanao continue to flee, local officials said.
Rajah Buayan Mayor Zamzamin Ampatuan said since his town is
adjacent to Mamasapano and areas where the military is pursuing the outlawed
Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, civilians fled to his town which for them
is safe as of the moment.
Local officials said armed BIFF were sighted in the
marshland of Datu Piang and Shariff Saydona borders.
Ampatuan said artillery fire were heard Saturday night in
the village of Ganta
Regional Governor Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in
Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has sent staff of the Humanitarian Emergency Action and
Response Team (HEART) to communities where there were evacuees to attend to
their needs.
“We could not give exact number of displaced families as of
yet because we are still assessing and validating data,” Myrna Jo Henry, HEART
staff, said.
Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Toto Mangudadatu told reporters the
number of displaced families following the skirmishes in Datu Unsay Friday
could reach 7,000 families.
"We are still validating the exact number of displaced
families but I was told more people are fleeing,” he said.
Mangudadatu said the provincial government is attending to
their needs but he expected the local government units to act swiftly as they
are the first responders.
Ampatuan said civilians from nearby Shariff Saydona and
Mamasapano fled to his town, including armed Moro Islamic Liberation Front, to
pave the way for the military action against the BIFF.
“In my town, there is no military action that is why
residents from nearby town came over,” he said. However, Ampatuan fear of water
and sanitation problem.
"Health concerns will be felt in the next days,” he
said.
Mayor Ampatuan led distribution of relief goods Sunday to
internally displaced persons from Mamasapano and Shariff Saydona.
“We recognized no boundaries, they are not my constituents but
I am morally obliged to extend a helping hand,” Ampatuan said.
No major offensives today but the military’s 1st Mechanized
Infantry Brigade and members of the Philippine Marines remained on heightened
alert, securing the Isulan-Cotabato
City
“Our operation against the lawless BIFF is continuing,”
Capt. Joann Petinglay, 6th Infantry Division spokesperson said Saturday.
No major skirmishes were reported Sunday morning but two
MG-520 attack helicopters were seen hovering the “SPMS complex.”
The military’s 6th Infantry Division on Saturday announced
that four Indons and an Arab chemist were sighted in the company of the BIFF in
the “SPMS box,” an area the Army referred to as adjoining towns of Shariff
Aguak, Pagatin (Saudi Ampatuan), Mamasapano and Shariff Saydona.
It is the major stronghold of the BIFF.
Petinglay said the Army surgical operation was well executed
that no civilians were hit.
Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc, AFP public affairs chief, said
three companions of terrorist bomber Basit Usman have been killed in the
military’s operation in Maguindanao on Friday.
He described those slain suspected terrorists as
"Tausug cohorts" of Usman who was wounded in the January 25 police
commando operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao where Malaysian terrorist
Zulkifli bin Hir alias "Marwan" was also killed.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=740230
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