MILF: SAF men used dead comrades as shields during Mamasapano encounter

From InterAksyon (Mar 25): MILF: SAF men used dead comrades as shields during Mamasapano encounter



InterAksyon/Bernard Testa file photo of MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal (right) hugging PNP Officer-in-charge Leonardo Espina (center).

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) defended itself from accusations that it had a hand in the reported massacre of 44 elite policemen who carried out Oplan Exodus in Mamasapano, Maguindanao to get terror suspects Marwan and Basit Usman.

Findings by the MILF’s Special Investigative Commission show that members of the Philippine National Police (PNP)-Special Action Force suffered from multiple gunshot wounds because they were used as shields by their comrades during the SAF’s January 25 encounter with Moro rebels in Brgy. Tukanalipao in Mamasapano town.

“They realized later from the position of dead bodies and the number of wounds of some of the 55 SAC (SAF's 55th Special Action Company) that some of them had used bodies of their comrades as shield during the intense fighting,” the MILF’s investigating body said in its 35-page report recently submitted to the Senate.

Last February, PNP officer-in-charge Leonardo Espina burst into tears over the brutal killing of the SAF commandos involved in the covert Mamasapano mission.

“Papanong namatay ‘yan? ‘Yong isa binaril n’yo sa ulo, buhay na buhay po ‘yong tao. ‘Yong isa, hinubaran n’yo ng bulletproof n’ya, binaril n’yo sa katawan n’ya. ‘Yong isa 9-millimeter, sa ulo n’ya, dalawa, dalawang fatal shots,” added Espina.

[How did they die? You shot one in the head while he was still very much alive. You took off the bulletproof vest of the other and you shot him. The third, you used a 9-millimeter gun and shot him in the head twice.]

According to Espina, three of the SAF troopers were not suffering from fatal shots during their encounter with the MILF but were “finished off” by their enemies.

[Video report]

Twenty-seven of the 44 SAF were shot in the head, according to the medico-legal report released by the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

Nine of the SAF commandos were solely shot in head, while 18 others were shot in the head and body, according to the report.

Some of them appeared to have been shot at close range, while it was likely that three troopers were shot after their enemies removed their bulletproof vests.

Among those who had suffered from multiple gunshot wounds was Rennie Tayrus. He was shot in the head, back, hip, and leg possibly at close range.

Also, Senior Inspector Ryan Pabalinas was shot 14 times including in the head.

Police Officer 2 Joseph Sagonoy was the third SAF fatality being referred to by Espina. Sagonoy was shot twice in the head with a 9-millimeter gun, with one of the bullets reaching his brain. He also suffered from gunshot wounds in his left leg, jaw, and mouth.

But in its 35-page report, the MILF said they should be the one filing a complaint against the PNP-SAF because it was the latter that violated the ceasefire agreement because they carried out the January 25 mission without coordinating with the MILF.

The MILF singled out Police Officer 2 Christopher Lalan of the SAF’s 55th SAC and a civilian named Mohammad Ambilang who allegedly killed four combatants of the Moro rebel group while the victims were sleeping.

“There should be an investigation to determine the liability of PO2 Christopher Lalan of the PNP-SAF 55th SAC who killed four combatants of the MILF while the latter were sleeping inside a makeshift mosque in Barangay Tukanalipao, Mamasapanao,” the MILF said.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/107634/milf-saf-men-used-dead-comrades-as-shields-during-mamasapano-encounter