MILF: Killing of SAF men ‘justified’

From the Manila Times (Mar 25): MILF: Killing of SAF men ‘justified’

The killing of the 44 Special Action Force troops in the Mamasapano incident was “justified.”

The full report of the Special Investigation Committee (SIC) of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) made this conclusion in the 38-page report it submitted to the Malaysian-led International Monitoring Team (IMT) last Sunday.

“The BIAF members were justified in fighting back after [they were] fired upon by the PNP-SAF (Philippine National Police-Special Action Force) in [Barangay] Tukanalipao. Without prior coordination, the BIAF did not know that the forces in Sitio Amilil were government forces with whom there is a holding ceasefire agreement,” the report said.

“When they were fired upon in the wooden bridge of Tukanalipao, the BIAF [members] could not have done anything else but to fire back as two of their men were instantly killed in the assault of the PNP-SAF men,” it added.

The BIAF refers to the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, the “military” wing of the MILF.

The MILF distributed a copy of the report to the media, including The Manila Times, on Monday or a few hours after it was received by the IMT in Cotabato City.

The report was embargoed on Tuesday at the request of the MILF as it did not want to preempt the submission of a copy to the Senate through Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

A joint Senate panel as well as the Board of Inquiry created by the PNP also probed the January 25 incident in Maguindanao.

The IMT was created to monitor a ceasefire agreement between the Philippine government and the MILF.

Supported by the United States and the European Union, it is composed of representatives from Japan, Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam.

The MILF-SIC blamed the national police for the incident, saying the SAF mission to capture international terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan and Filipino bomb expert Abdul Basit Usman violated the peace agreement as the mission was not coordinated with them.

Marwan was killed in the clash while Usman managed to slip out.

The report said MILF-BIAF fighters were going to Sitio Amilil around 4:30 a.m. of January 25, 2015 when members of the 55th Special Action Company (55th SAC) of the PNP Special Action Force allegedly fired at them.

Two MILF fighters were killed in the first encounter, the report said.

Fifteen more MILF fighters and at least three civilians were killed in the fighting.

“It was still dark at this time of day, and the BIAF forces could not distinguish what group had fired at them. The 55th SAC was positioned across the 15-meter wide river and was hiding in the cornfield in that part of Sitio Amilil,” the report, quoting MILF witnesses. said.

“While the BIAF could not clearly see whom they were fighting against, they concluded that these were not friendly forces as they had initiated the first shots–shots that were fatal to two of their men.

“Firing ensued between the two groups. The BIAF members later on construed that the uniformed armed men who attacked them were soldiers of the Philippine Army,” it added.

The gunbattle prompted MILF-BIAF fighters who were living in the area to come to the aid of their beleaguered comrades.

“A total of more or less 100 MILF men were eventually engaged in the fighting,” the report said.

“As members of the MILF came to the site of the fighting spontaneously, there was no organized central command that was in charge of the whole engagement.

“[The] superior number of MILF forces, familiarity [with] the terrain, coupled with their high-caliber firearms [gave them the advantage over the SAF troops].

The MILF submitted a copy of its report to Marcos, chairman of the Senate Committee on Local Government, which had held hearings on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law in abeyance pending the submission of the group’s findings.

“We trust that this report is treated with fairness and we hope that all the information provided therein will be helpful in your evaluation of the incident,” said Mohagher Iqbal, vice chairman and chief negotiator of the MILF, in a letter to Marcos.

The PNP’s spokesman, meanwhile, said they are willing to investigate a claim in the MILF-SIC report that some of the slain SAF police commandos had used the dead bodies of their colleagues as shields during the fighting.

“The PNP-BOI has not mentioned anything about the dead SAF having been used as shields. We have no comment on that for now through we are ready to be investigated on that issue. The same with the alleged failure of the SAF to coordinate. We are open to outside probe to clear these things out,” Chief Supt. Generoso Cerbo told The Manila Times.

Reacting to Cerbo’s statement, a police official criticized the PNP spokesman for not taking up the cudgels for their fallen comrades.

“What investigation is he talking about? Sino iimbestigahan, ang PNP [Who will be investigated, the PNP]? Ang PNP na nga nalagasan, sila pa ang iimbestigahan [It was the PNP that lost some of its men, yet it will be the one to be investigated]? The trouble with Cerbo is he is toeing the line of Malacanang,” the official told The Times.

The official, who requested anonymity as he is not authorized to speak on the matter, described the MILF report as “self-serving” even as he said that no ceasefire violation was committed.

“The SAF troops have warrants to arrest Marwan and Usman, they are high-value targets. So what coordination is the MILF is talking about?” he said.

The official also debunked claims that dead bodies were used as shields, saying medico-legal findings showed otherwise. “These are scientific findings. The medico-legal results revealed that they were shot at close range. The bullet-proof vests they were wearing were taken off before they were shot at close range,” he pointed out.

Military officials declined to comment on the MILF report.

“We will refer this issue to the OPAPP [Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process] which handles the peace process with the MILF,” Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc, chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Public Affairs Office, said.

http://www.manilatimes.net/milf-killing-of-saf-men-justified/171763/