Army sends peacekeepers in wake of MNLF-MILF clash in North Cotabato

From InterAksyon (Jul 11): Army sends peacekeepers in wake of MNLF-MILF clash in North Cotabato

The Army deployed peacekeeping forces to remote villages in Matalam town in North Cotabato after a land dispute triggered clashes between fighters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Moro National Liberation Front on Thursday.

MILF fighters were also reported to have harassed a militia detachment in Barangay Malamote and a temporary Army outpost in Sitio Maligaya.

Government forces also secured the highway linking Cotabato province to Davao City, which is just a kilometer away from where the fighting took place.

Lieutenant Leonard Lopez of the Army’s 7th Infantry Battalion said the MNLF-MILF encounter broke out in Barangay Manubuan around 3 a.m. Thursday and ended around four hours later.

Around 4 a.m., MILF fighters led by a commander Uzon fired on the militia detachment as 50 others from the MILF 108th Base Command harassed the Sitio Maligaya outpost.

The government forces and MILF fighters traded shots for some three hours.

An unidentified farmer was reported wounded by stray bullets in the Malamote incident.

Although the hostilities have ceased, the feuding groups have remained in the area, prompting several families to flee to nearby villages to avoid getting caught up in any recurrence of violence.

Late last month, MILF fighters also reported harassed Moro farmers in Malamote.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/90984/army-sends-peacekeepers-in-wake-of-mnlf-milf-clash-in-north-cotabato