Tuesday, May 5, 2015

AFP insists Usman's men killed him, but 'welcomes' MILF claim

From InterAksyon (May 5): AFP insists Usman's men killed him, but 'welcomes' MILF claim



AFP handout photo purporting to show the dead Abdul Basit Usman

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front is "welcome" to claim its men slew Abdul Basit Usman, but as far as the military is concerned, the wanted bomb maker was killed by his own men, who were supposedly fighting over the $1-million bounty offered by the United States and a separate P6.3-million reward from the Philippine government.

"Based on initial reports that we have, Usman was killed in a shootout between his men. Five others were killed in that incident. We welcome though the claim of the MILF that they were the ones who killed Usman," Armed Forces of the Philippines Civil Relations Service chief Brigadier General Joselito Kakilala said in an interview with Interaksyon.com.

However, Kakilala also acknowledged that there is no conclusive evidence to establish whom to credit for the death of Usman, who escaped the disastrous January 25 Special Action Force operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao. That mission left Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias "Marwan," dead, but at the cost of 44 police commandos, 17 MILF fighters and at least three civilians.

"General Catapang has ordered Major General (Edmundo) Pangilinan, commander of the Army's 6th Infantry Division to submit the soonest possible his special report about Usman’s death that would be the final report of the AFP. By then we will know who really killed Usman," Kakilala said.

Kakilala declined to say how the military was able to produce a photograph purporting to show Usman’s body except to point out that the military has a "very broad" intelligence network.

"I don't want to preempt the report of Major General Pangilinan that he will be submitting to General Catapang," he said.

Kakilala also said they had received reports Usman’s killers had left his body behind and that this could have been retrieved by MILF fighters who rushed to the area on hearing bursts of gunfire.

But in an earlier radio interview, MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said the responding MILF fighters reported that Usman’s body had been taken by his men.

In a separate radio interview, MILF vice chairman for political affairs Ghadzali Jaafar claimed MILF fighters engaged Usman’s group in a firefight in which the bomber was killed.

A ranking intelligence officer who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not allowed to speak on the matter said fighters of the MILF’s 118th Base Command under Wahid Tundok retrieved the body of Usman and took it to Camp Darapanan, where MILF chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim is based, for burial.

Kakilala said they too have received intelligence reports Usman’s body was retrieved by Tundok's men.

After Marwan’s death, Usman and his men were initially protected by the group of Muhammad Ali Tambako, a known commander of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighter, which broke away from the MILF. However, Tambako and five aides were captured amid a military offensive against their group. 

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/109971/afp-insists-usmans-men-killed-him-but-welcomes-milf-claim

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.