8 fighters dead, 4K flee from MILF 'infighting' in Maguindanao

From the Philippine News Agency (Apr 24, 2022): 8 fighters dead, 4K flee from MILF 'infighting' in Maguindanao (By Edwin Fernandez)

DESERTED VILLAGE. The deserted main highway along the commercial district of Barangay Dapiawan, Datu Saudi Ampatuan town in Maguindanao del Sur on Saturday (April 22, 2023) due to infighting between Moro Islamic Liberation Front groups in the area. Local officials said eight MILF combatants were killed in the clashes. (Photo courtesy of BalitangBayan Facebook Page)

DATU SAUDI AMPATUAN, Maguindanao del Sur – A three-day armed hostilities between two warring Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) groups in two adjoining villages here has displaced some 800 families or about 4,000 individuals, local officials said Monday.

At least eight rebels were killed in the fighting, according to Datu Saudi Ampatuan Mayor Edris Sindatuk, citing information from village officials.

Colonel Ruel Sermese, Maguindanao del Sur police provincial director, said the warring MILF fighters belong to the group’s 105th and 118th base commands, whose members are locked in a long-standing “rido” (family feud) over territorial disputes.

The fighting was confined to the borders of Barangays Dapiawan and Madia, some 10 kilometers away from the town proper.

“Their conflict started last year and erupted on April 5 and reignited anew on Saturday, April 22,” Sermese said in an interview.

“A peaceful settlement was reached and signed by both sides on April 5, but the same was ignored,” he added.

Locked in the “rido” are combatants under Commanders Moat Sindatuk and Bobby Adam of the MILF 105th and 118th base commands, respectively.

Sermese said the displaced families sought shelter inside the Dapiawan Elementary School after they emptied their homes due to the hostilities on April 22.

“MILF leaders have already sent emissaries to defuse the tension,” Sermese said, adding that it was disheartening to note that the clashes occurred during the Eid’l Fitr or the end of the monthlong fasting period of Ramadan for Muslims.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1199996