To avoid the escalation of armed hostilities involving Moro
rebels in North Cotabato ’s Pikit town, Army
and police forces have been deployed to serve as peackeepers, officials said
Friday.
Chief Inspector Sindatu Karim, Pikit town police chief said
in an interview that soldiers from the Army’s 602nd Infantry Brigade were
deployed Thursday along with the police near the village of Talitay
”They are there to secure the civilians and not to fight the
rebels,” Karim told reporters after two commanders of the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front (MILF) traded bullets at grenades due to “rido” or family
feud.
In helping contain the flame standing in between warring
MILF commanders in his area of operation, Maj. Gen. Eduardo Pangilinan, 6th
Infantry Division commander, has standing directive to all Army units under the
6th ID not to engage warring Muslim families but secure civilians in the event
infighting occurs.
Clan wars, locally known as “rido,” are common in
communities in Maguindanao, including infighting among forces of the MILF, the
biggest rebel movement that entered into a peace agreement with the government
in 2014.
Von Al Haq, speaking for the MILF’s Bangsamoro Islamic Armed
Forces, said the MILF central committee has already sent emissaries to patch up
the differences between Commanders Mantol and Commander Andoy.
More than 300 families or 1,800 individuals, have deserted
the village of Talitay
At the break of dawn Thursday, civilians with their
valuables and work animals had an exodus to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.
Sadly, the civilians suffer the most in armed conflict not
of thier own making in Pikit.
Karim said Commanders Andoy and Hussain allegedly refused to
surrender to police authorities in Kabacan, North Cotabato one of his men
suspected of killing Commander Mantol’s brother in Barangay Kayaga, Kabacan, North Cotabato .
Karim said the infighting broke out few kilometers from Camp Rajamuda ,
a government recognized MILF areas and one of the biggest MILF camps in North Cotabato .
Tahira Kalantongan, Pikit Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction
and Management Officer, said the evacuees fled to nearby Barangays Inug-og,
Rajamuda and Gli-Gli, also in Pikit.
Police and military authorities are hoping the MILF
emissaries could bring the warring MILF leaders to the negotiating table so the
displaced families could return home.
The skirmishes in Pikit came two days after unidentified
armed men ambushed and killed Village chairperson Pecson Mangansakan of
Barangay Silik, Pikit, North Cotabato .
But Karim said the murder of Mangansakan was not related to
the MILF infighting.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=844554
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