From the Manila Standard Today (Feb 2):
Moros join forces
MNLF,
BIFF ‘reunite’ amid combat lull; IED hurts 15
The Nur Misuari
faction of the Moro National Liberation Front admitted on Saturday that it had
formed an ‘informal’ tactical alliance with the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom
Fighters, and vowed to assist the BIFF if the military continues to push the
renegade group into a corner.
“The MNLF will
assist the BIFF in the event that they are pushed into a corner,” MNLF
spokesman Absalom Cerveza said. “Kung hindi na nila (BIFF) kaya, at malapit na
silang matumba, tutulungan namin sila.”
The MNLF
spokesman said the MNLF-BIFF alliance was a matter of course since the two
groups ‘have the same destiny and the same ends -- independence.
“We’re already
friends so it’s a matter of course,” said Cerveza, describing the alliance as
an “organic reunification.”
He added that the
BIFF is a revolutionary and legitimate front with reasonable principles seeking
independence of Mindanao and should not be
treated by the military as common criminals.
Cerveza said
Samsudin, while officially a BIFF commander, is an ‘unofficial’ member of the
MNLF, having defected into the Nur Misuari faction side in 2012 along with
Samer Salamat, brother of the late MILF Chairman Hashim Salamat, Abdulawahid
Jianalan, former chief security of MILF Chairman Al Haj Haj Murad Ebrahim, and
a certain commander Saidale.
Cerveza claimed
that some 6,500 MILF fighters joined the high-ranking defectors who were
welcomed by Misuari himself during “acceptance rites’ in an MNLF lair in Jolo.
He added that
BIFF commander Ustadz Samer Samsudin, told him that they are ready to defend
themselves at all cost against the military’s relentless pursuit.
Last Friday, the
military said its operation has so far killed 53 members of the BIFF, including
a commander identified as Hassan Indal, who was killed during an air strike.
The clashes also
wounded 49 others, while the government side lost a soldier after six days of
intense fighting.
The BIFF,
however, denied that ‘Tambako’ Indal was killed, saying that Indal was ejected
by the BIFF leadership due to his ‘unIslamic activities.’
Tambako led the
campaign against government forces in Maguindanao last year which led to the
evacuation of about 50,000 residents.
Cerveza,
meanwhile, said Samsudin and an undetermined number of combatants under his
command has temporarily sought shelter somewhere in the hinterlands in
Maguindanao to rest and review their battle plan.
The clashes
between the military and the BIFF erupted last Sunday after government forces
were about to serve arrest warrants against BIFF founder Ameril Umbra Kato and
his men.
But on Saturday,
the military – except for a few soldiers patrolling populated areas—and the
BIFF both withdrew to their respective camps after the military’s 72-hour
extension that was earlier approved by the Adhoc Joint Action Group (AJAG) of
the Armed Forces of the Philippines and MILF has expired.
But Col. Dickson
Hermoso, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said
that they may request for a second extension as the military prepares for
bigger offensives in the coming hours.
Saturday’s silence,
however, was interrupted by a powerful twin blast that injured two television
crew from TV-5, 10 soldiers and civilians in Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Maguindanao.
The blasts were
believed to be from an improvised explosive device (IED) allegedly planted by
the BIFF in Bgy. Lower Salbu, Datu Saudi
Ampatuan.
Maj. Dante Gania,
public affairs chief of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said the explosion
hit the convoy of the 1st Mechanized Infantry Battalion composed of a civilian
pick-up, TV5’s marked vehicle and 2 SFV military vehicles at around 7:33 a.m.
“We have 6
soldiers and 6 civilians wounded. Two of the civilians were crew of TV5
network,” Gania said.
Gania identified
the two mediamen as reporter Jeff Caparas and cameraman Adrian Bulatao, but
could not immediately identify the other victims.
Three helicopters
picked up the wounded and brought them to a hospital, added Gania.
Luchi
Cruz-Valdez, head of TV 5 news division, said Bulatao’s injury was “serious”
with shrapnel wounds over the right side of his body.
“Bulatao is in
shock but conscious, in pain,” she said in a text message.
“Caparas was also
wounded but was still on his feet,” she added.
“It was a good
thing they were wearing protective helmets and vests,” Hermoso said.
Caparas later
said over the TV station that his crew had stopped to cover an earlier bomb
blast when another explosion took place.
The military said
the first explosion occurred at the 3-kilometer stretch of the national highway
from Datu Saudi, Ampatuan and Datu Piang but no one was hurt during the blast.
The highway was temporarily closed.
The second
explosion occurred just as the television crew arrived in the area to report on
the first explosion.
The wounded
soldiers and civilians were brought to the headquarters of the army’s 2nd
Mechanized Battalion in Maguindanao for medical treatment.
Meanwhile, the
military hoisted the Philippine flag at the center of the main camp of the BIFF
in Barangay Ganta in Shariff Saidona town in Maguindanao that it captured after
a week of sporadic air and ground assaults.
Col. Edmund
Pangilinan, commander of the 601st Infantry Brigade, and Col. Edgar Gonzales,
chief of the 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade, hoisted the national flag in the
middle of the more or less seven-hectare BIFF camp.
After the
government forces sang the national anthem, Gonzales and Pangilinan led in
offering prayers for the fallen guerrillas and a soldier.
Gonzales said his
troops, who first entered the camp, recovered about 3,000 rounds of ammunition
of various calibers and 300 kilos of blasting chemicals and components for
making improvised explosive devices.
Quoting local
officials, Gonzales said the camp had been used by the BIFF as “springboard”
for its bombing and extortion activities in the towns of Maguindanao and North
Cotabato.
He lauded the
civilians, some of them relatives of BIFF leaders, for guiding government
forces in the center of the camp, using various trails to avoid home-made explosives
planted along the roads.
“It’s like
guerrilla camps in movies where there were so many running trenches and
criss-crossing routes,” an Army lieutenant, who identifies himself as Pentagon,
said.
Gonzales said it
was a well-fortified camp difficult for ground troops to penetrate.
“Our air assets
destroyed most of the fortification,” he said, adding that many of the running
trenches were laden with blood stain.
Hermoso,
meanwhile, said they would intensify their intelligence monitoring to avert
possible BIFF counter-attacks in the coming days.
http://manilastandardtoday.com/2014/02/02/moros-join-forces/
