Army commander to MILF: spare the civilians

From MindaNews (Apr 30, 2023): Army commander to MILF: spare the civilians (By FERDINANDH B. CABRERA)

COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 30 April) — The commander of 6th Infantry Division has warned warring base commands of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to spare the civilians or face military action.

Maj. Gen. Alex Rillera, 6th ID chief and concurrent head of the Joint Task Force-Central said armed elements of the MILF’s 105th and 118th base command have brought misery to residents in the villages of Madia, Iligan, Dapiawan, Gawang and nearby communities in Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Magauindanao del Sur, even during the holy month of Ramadan.

  

Map courtesy of Google

At least eight persons died, several houses were burned, and roads closed due to the armed conflict. The local government reported 2,000 families or about 11,000 residents displaced.

“We informed MILF commanders that if they will not leave these affected places, they might face our forces and we don’t want to reach to that point,” he told members of the Kampilan Division Press Corps during a fun shoot on Friday.

Rillera said they let the MILF settle the dispute in accordance with the peace process mechanisms. The MILF and government signed on March 27, 2014 the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), a peace pact reached after 17 years of negotiations.

He said the military and police responded to the calls of civilians and other groups to disengage the warring groups. The MILF’s armed component, the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, under which the base commands operate, is in the process of decommissioning of combatants and weapons, as part of the peace agreement.

“There’s a lot of civilians who are suffering. We let them know where we stand, that we are for the peace effort and we are for those innocent civilians,” Rillera said.

Reports reaching the military said the recent conflict traces its roots to the dispute between Hawn Sindtuk of the MILF’s 105th base command and Datu Bobby Adam of the 118th base command over accusations of killings on both sides.

The MILF’s Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities and other local leader peace partners had brokered a truce several times, including one during Ramadan but a few days later, the armed conflict raged again. (Ferdinandh B. Cabrera / MindaNews)

https://www.mindanews.com/top-stories/2023/04/army-commander-to-milf-spare-the-civilians/