Men killed were Moro Islamic Liberation Front – Iqbal

Posted to the Manila Times (Jun 21, 2023): Men killed were Moro Islamic Liberation Front – Iqbal (By Franz R. Sumangil)

A HIGH-RANKING leader of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front declared on Monday that the seven men killed in a law enforcement operation last Sunday in Datu Paglas town, Maguindanao del Sur were members of the MILF.

Mohagher Iqbal, MILF Peace Implementing Panel chairman, said those killed were legitimate MILF members, refuting the claims of the military that they were members of the Islamic State-linked Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.

Iqbal said the MILF is preparing to file a complaint against the operating team for allegedly breaching the ceasefire agreement and the terms of reference of the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (Ahjag).

Ahjag is a cooperative mechanism in the Bangsamoro peace process between the government and the MILF that responds to criminality and terrorism in areas with MILF presence.

Iqbal, also the Minister of Education in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), said that there was no coordination with the MILF for the law enforcement operation.

Meanwhile, Mirinda Madidis Husain said her sons Nasser Yussef Husain and Nurjihad Husain, who were both killed in the joint law enforcement operation, were subordinates of George Kasim, commander of the MILF's Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces National Guard Division.

MILF spokesman Von Alhaq confirmed that Kasim is a top MILF commander and that "most of those killed were known to the MILF."

However, Alhaq did not confirm nor deny if the others who were killed were also MILF members, saying that "an internal investigation is still being conducted by the front."

Seven gunmen were killed and a police officer was injured in an operation in Datu Paglas, Maguindanao del Sur.

BGen. Allan Nobleza, BARMM police director, said Monday the police team involved in the operation was armed with a warrant of arrest against two of the slain suspects.

"The suspects resisted and fired at our lawmen that injured a police officer," Nobleza said.

Emma Husain, wife of Nurjihad Husain, one of the fatalities in the operation, earlier claimed her husband was unarmed and was not a terrorist as the police have claimed.

However, Nobleza said the suspects were involved in the bombing of an electrical transmission tower in Carmen, North Cotabato in 2016 and the Datu Paglas public market attack in 2021.

"They were wanted persons involved in various criminal activities in Maguindanao and North Cotabato provinces," Nobleza said.

Backed by soldiers, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) of Maguindanao del Sur conducted the operation at about 2 a.m. last Sunday against the Husain brothers when a shootout broke out.

Nobleza added that the brothers were killed in the shootout and that the raiding team fired back to defend themselves.

According to CIDG reports, also killed in the encounter were Mamex Karem, Dela Singkala, Morsid Madidis, Jerry Pagugunang, and his brother Punpugay, all of Damawato village in Datu Paglas.

Nobleza said the raiding team seized an M16 rifle, two.45-caliber pistols and ammunition of various calibers from the gunmen.

https://www.manilatimes.net/2023/06/21/regions/men-killed-were-milf-iqbal/1897016