Ameril Umbra Kato. FILE PHOTO BY ROMY ELUSFA
Military intelligence operatives are verifying information that Ameril Umbra Kato, founder of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement-Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFM-BIFF), is dead.
“Yes, we’ve received such information that he died today and
we’re looking into its veracity. Initially, we’ve reasons to believe the
information is 90 percent true, as of this moment,” a high-ranking military
intelligence official told Interaksyon.com.
The official has requested not be named “at this point in
time” as the process of verification and confirmation is ongoing.
He said Kato “died of heart attack” at around 2 a.m. Tuesday
in Barangay Katiman, Guindulungan, Maguindanao.
“We’re rushing to find out before the Islamic practice of
burying the dead within 24 hours,” the official said.
Several months after he was expelled from the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front (MILF), Kato founded in 2008 the BIFM and its armed wing, the
BIFF. Kato suffered successive strokes that rendered him bed-ridden.
The military said some 300 from his former MILF 105th Base
Command are loyal to Kato.
The MILF expelled Kato and his followers for not supporting
the peace process with the government.
Years later, the BIFM-BIFF publicly announced that it plans
to build an Islamic state.
Even before his split from the MILF, Kato was carrying a
P10-million bounty for leading his men in a series of attacks against
government troops and civilian communities, and destroying private and
government facilities after the Supreme Court (SC) declared the Memorandum of
Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) unconstitutional.
Second military source: news of Kato death
‘spreading like wildfire’
A second military source said the death of Kato “is
spreading like wildfire” among its followers an supporters in Maguindanao.
“Our intelligence operatives are now following these leads
so they will lead them to the whereabouts of Kato,” he said.
“It’s highly probable he is dead considering na talagang
hirap na rin siya kasi (he has been really suffering). From time to time
he has to be transferred by his men from one place to another to avoid getting
captured by our pursuing troops. Deteriorating na ang health niya noon pa
man (His health has been deteriorating for a while now),” he added.
The officer said the military is now challenging the BIFF to
“show proof” their leader is still alive.
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/108753/biff-founder-ameril-umbra-kato-is-dead-military-verifying
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