Philippine Military on alert for 2 Malaysian bomb experts

Military forces in Mindanao raised their alert level following reports on the alleged presence of two Malaysian bomb experts out to train local terrorists.

Intelligence reports circulating in Cagayan de Oro said the Malaysians are in addition to four Jemaah Islamiyah members – three Indonesians and one Singaporean – in the region engaged in training the Abu Sayyaf militants in Basilan and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in Central Mindanao.

The report said a foreign terrorist and 10 BIFF members were targeting Cagayan de Oro for bombing.
The BIFF had earlier threatened to bomb key areas in Mindanao and Manila after it suffered heavy casualties from last week’s firefights with government forces in Central Mindanao. Some 50 BIFF members were reportedly killed in the armed conflict.

The reports named the Singaporean as Mawiya Husayfa who carries a $1-million bounty on his head, and the other three as Abdul Kiram, Mujair Algozi and Basit Usman, whose bounty was placed at $10 million.   

Article Source: Philippine Star

Terrorist bombed church, 7 dead

Seven people were killed while five others were injured when a bomb exploded near a church in Sumisip, Basilan on Tuesday.

Police said the explosion occurred near the Vincent Ferrer parish church where most of the victims had attended mass.

The casualties were identified as Rey Limbin, Elbert Gomoba, Kitarul Kaddik, Leniebel Cisneros, Lourdes Ablong and Badjon Gomoba. The seventh victim, Therese Claire Alegarbes, died on the way to a hospital.

The wounded were identified as Janice Alegarbes, mother of one of the fatalities; Trining and Jessa Dingcong, and Ronel and Samson Limben. They were brought to the Zamboanga City Medical Center for treatment.

Police said the victims had just emerged from the church to attend a New Year’s Eve celebration nearby in front of the house of Manuel Cisneros, a militiaman of Sitio Fine Tree, Barangay Tumahubong when the improvised explosive device exploded at 9:47 p.m.

Police said the bomb was placed inside a bag that was left under a chair.

The military, on the other hand, reported that a grenade was used in the attack.

Military bomb experts went to the scene and concluded that the explosion was caused by a grenade.

“Five died instantly while two others expired later,” said Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala, Armed Forces Public Affairs Office (PAO) chief.

Zagala added the grenade blast was further aggravated by broken bottles where the explosion occurred.

Authorities suspect the Abu Sayyaf was behind the attack.

The victims were among the cooperative plantation workers in the village where Abu Sayyaf bandits have been staging attacks for extortion.

There were also reports of squabbles between armed groups and officials of the cooperative overseeing the operations of a 4,000-hectare rubber plantation in the area.

Barangay officials said there were indications that the victims knew the bomber.

“Accordingly, the suspect, who arrived carrying the bag containing the improvised explosive, was even served food by some of the victims. The bomb exploded after the suspect left,” a barangay official told  The STAR.

Senseless killing

Malacañang condemned “the senseless killing,” saying security and law enforcement authorities had been directed to pursue and arrest the perpetrators.

Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Gov. Mujiv Hataman said they had given financial  assistance to the victims and shouldered funeral costs of those who died.

Source Article

Philippine Army captures Maguindanao BIFM camp, hospital

Government troops seized two more Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement camps, one of which was a hospital where the ailing BIFM leader Ameril Umbra Kato was reportedly previously taken.

 

According to Col. Prudencio Asto, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, the hospital is located in Maguindanao province’s Datu Hoffer town.

 

The first BIFM camp was captured Saturday morning by troops from the 2nd Scout Ranger Battalion after a heavy military bombardment. The camp could accommodate 100 people and has 10 bunkers with overhead protection, said Army spokesman Maj. Harold Cabunoc.

 

“Several war materials and personal belongings were left behind by the rebels who hastily fled with numerous casualties when the artillery bombardments began,” said Cabunoc, quoting 2nd Scout Ranger Battalion commander Lt. Col. Ignatius Patrimonio.

 

Meanwhile, Asto said the camp, which also serves as a training ground for BIFM fighters, was seized with minor enemy resistance. The Rangers recovered Korans in a lecture room.

 

Sunday morning, Asto said the soldiers seized the second satellite camp which he said had bunkers and running trenches.

 

“It’s their camp where their hospital is located,” said Asto.  The troops seized medicines and a wheelchair believed to have been used by Kato, who suffered a stroke last December.

 

Citing an intelligence report, Asto said Kato, a former leader of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, was brought to the hospital last Aug. 6 and left a day later. He said intelligence agents are tracking Kato.

 

“He was not in the area; he was not in the camp. He is probably in the communities,” said Asto of Kato, who established the BIFM last year due to differences with the MILF leadership.

 

Including this latest capture of the two camps, the military has seized five rebel lairs since they mounted an offensive against the BIFM August 5.

 

The offensive began after the rebels attacked 10 military installations in Maguindanao, including the headquarters of the 1st Mechanized Brigade.

 

Military officials claimed that at least 50 BIFM fighters have been killed since the fighting broke out. On the other hand, four soldiers and a policeman died and several soldiers were wounded in the skirmishes.

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GMA News Online | August 20, 2012 | Article Link

5 Maguindanao mayors face raps for alleged support to BIFF

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (MindaNews/14 August) — Administrative charges will be filed against five town mayors in Maguindanao for their alleged support to the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement who staged attacks against Army detachments along a major highway last week.

Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo said the mayors will also be investigated for abandoning their posts when BIFF rebels attack their towns along the Cotabato-Isulan highway.

The five mayors were identified as Mayor Datu Saudi Sheam Ampatuan of Saudi Ampatuan town, Mayor Bai Bongbong Midtimbang Ampatuan of Datu Hoffer town, Mayor Bai Reshal Santiago Ampatuan of Datu Unsay, Mayor Bai Zandra Sinsuat Ampatuan of Saydona town, and Vice Mayor Kanor Ampatuan of Salibo town who replaced Akmad Ampatuan who has gone into hiding after being implicated in the 2009 Ampatuan massacre.

All of the five mayors did not show up at the meeting yesterday called by Robredo at the North Cotabato provincial capitol in Barangay Amas, Kidapawan City.

Robredo said the Maguindanao provincial government led by Gov. Toto Magugundatu will take the lead in the investigation of administrative cases against the mayors.

“We do not want to be seen that this is a political vendetta but provincial governments have their machinery in investigating administrative cases against erring elected officials,” Robredo said.

He said their investigation will focus on the whereabouts of the town mayors during the attacks by BIFF rebels.

“We are also interested whether they gave financial support to the rebels,” the secretary said.

Army officials said they were surprised that the BIFF rebels who launched simultaneous attacks on Army detachments last week were well-equipped.

“They could have good logistic support from somewhere in order to stage that attacks almost simultaneously,” Col. Prudencio Asto, spokesperson of the 6th Infantry Division said.

Von Al Haq, spokesperson of the MILF  Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, estimated the BIFF had about 200-300 fighters when its leader Umbra Karo broke ties with them last year. 

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Froilan Gallardo | MindaNews | August 14, 2012 | Article Link

50 killed as soldiers overrun rogue Moro rebels’ camp in Maguindanao

A BARRAGE of fire from 105mm howitzers backed by Air Force helicopter gunships and followed by ground assault resulted in the flushing out of rogue Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement (BIFM) fighters in Datu Hoffer, Maguindanao, Maj. Gen. Rey Ardo, 6th Infantry “Kampilan” Division commander, said on Wednesday.

Ardo said the whole-day assault was completed late Tuesday afternoon after the troops captured Hills 166 and 714, former communities of the Teduray tribe that the rebels turned into a training ground for young recruits.

“Our estimate is more than 50 of them [gunmen] have been killed and more than 20 were wounded,” Col. Mayoralgo de la Cruz, commander of the Army’s 1st Mechanized Brigade, said.

De la Cruz said the death of 27 has been confirmed.

No casualties were reported on the government side.

De la Cruz said at least 20 gunmen were also confirmed wounded. 

The BIFM is led by Ameril Umbra kato, former commander of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) who was expelled from the organization last year for rejecting the prospect of having a peace agreement with the government.

Earlier, Ardo agreed with the peace panels of the government and the MILF that tagged Umbra kato and his followers “spoilers” of peace in Mindanao.

“We’re coordinating now with the local government of Datu Hoffer and other government agencies, such as the agriculture department, on how to take care of those places to prevent the return of these rogue fighters of the BIFM,” Ardo said.

The MILF earlier condemned Umbra kato and his men for sowing violence in Maguindanao. The front believes that Umbra kato’s attacks were meant to frustrate the peace negotiations.

“However, we do not know what they get from this offensive.... Did they ably project their martial prowess? The answer is no. They are only confined in the small corner of the province. So, what did they gain, if ever? Nothing, except putting in the consciousness of people that they are still there, alive and kicking. But in exchange, their safe haven is now [a] free-fire zone,” the MILF said in its editorial at its web site www.luwaran.com.

The rogue fighters were operating in the fringes of the MILF’s Camp Omar.

Umbra kato himself is facing a string of criminal cases before different courts for his involvement in the violent attacks against government forces and civilian communities in Central Mindanao in 2008 after the Supreme Court junked the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain.

Ardo said efforts were also being done to convince the Teduray tribe to return to its original abode in order to develop the lands.

Lt. Col. Prudencio Asto, Ardo’s spokesman, said soldiers continue to mount offensives against the beleaguered fighters to totally flush them out from the area.

“With the capture of Hill 166 and Hill 714, farmers nearby can now grow their crops without fear of attacks from the bandits,” Asto said.

More than 10 people have been killed since the BIFM mounted attacks that started in August against military and police detachments and/or outposts in at least five towns in the province.

Director General Nicanor Bartolome, National Police chief, sent several teams from the Special Action Force  to help the military pound Umbra kato’s men. 

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Zaff Solmerin | BusinessMirror.Com.Ph | August 15, 2012 | Article Link

Army captures BIFF base in Maguindanao

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao, Aug. 14 (PNA) -- The military here announced the capture on Tuesday afternoon of a major camp of renegade Moro rebels who launched atrocities in Maguindanao that left at least 28 people dead and thousands of people displaced. 

Colonel Prudencio Asto, chief of the 6th Infantry Division public affairs office, said elements of the 6th ID and the 601st Infantry Brigade, backed by helicopter gunships and artillery fires captured at 3 p.m. Tuesday Hill 714 in Datu Hoffer, Maguindanao. 

Asto would not say how many Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) were killed following the air strikes and ground assaults, but he stressed no casualty was reported on government side. 

"The hill served as the command and control point and stronghold of the BIFF," Asto said.
According to Asto, the camp used to be the staging point for the BIFF bandits in planning their atrocities against soldiers and civilians in nearby communities. 

"The 6ID is now securing the hill to prevent members of BIFF lawless group from recovering their lost ground," he said. 

He said on orders of Maj. Gen. Rey Ardo, 6th Infantry Division commander the military is is now coordinating with the local government units, the Department of Agriculture and other line government agencies for the development of the former bandits’ enclave. 

With the capture of Hill 714, farmers nearby can now grow their crops without fear of attacks from the bandits. 

Claiming they wanted to avenge the death of a comrade last June 23, the BIFF, numbering about 500, launched simultaneous attacks in Maguindanao's seven municipalities, attacking Army and para military detachments. 

The atrocities led to the death of six soldiers, four civilians and more than 20 BIFF fighters, according to Asto. 

About 30,000 civilians have been displaced and portions of the highway linking Cotabato and Gen. Santos had been closed for five days until it was reopened for public use last Friday. 

Asto said sporadic fighting is still ongoing as BIFF forces still continue to fire at and harass Army installations in the towns of Datu Saudi, Datu Unsay, Datu Hoffer, Datu Piang, Shariff Aguak and Ampatuan.

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Philippine News Agency | August 14, 2012 | Article Link

Snipers slow down pursuing soldiers in Maguindanao

MANILA, Philippines - Snipers of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement (BIFM) deployed along the stretch of the Maguindanao-General Santos Highway have slowed down soldiers’ offensives that used canons as cover fire in their hot- pursuit operations, Col. Mayoralgo dela Cruz, commander of the 1st Mechanized Brigade, said on Sunday.

The rebel snipers were not targeting civilians, only soldiers, according to reports.

The BIFF is a splinter group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) led by Ameril Umbrakato, who was expelled from the rebel organization last year for rejecting peace talks with the government meant to end decades of armed conflict in Mindanao.

“We’re operating along the hilly stretch of the national highway and it’s a very big area. 

Our soldiers have to contend with deployed enemy snipers. Hindi naman [nila] target ang civilians, ang target [ay mga] sundalo,” Dela Cruz said.

He dismissed the report of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) that some portions of the highway remained closed to traffic because of the rebels’ presence.

“It is [national highway] passable since the other day. But we’ve to secure it as we continue to press our offensives to flush them [rebels] out from the area,” the ground commander said.

Dela Cruz declined to speak on how the rebels can be prevented from taking refuge in Camp Omar, one of the biggest camps of the MILF in Central Mindanao, but which continues to allow the BIFM to use it as its lair.

Dela Cruz said the rebels have been peddling disinformation about their strength.

“Some say the rebels number 100, some say 200, others 300. There’s a lot of disinformation, but we’re unsure. We just operate. They disperse and then when there’s an opportunity they attack again,” he added, describing the operational tactics of the rebels.

 The soldiers continue to use 105 howitzer cannons to pound verified rebel positions before ground troops launch assaults.

Reports said the BIFM has a strength of up to 1,000 fully armed men with several subcommanders in its fold.

Since the BIFM launched simultaneous attacks on August 5 against military and police headquarters, detachments, outposts and checkpoints in at least five towns, authorities have registered the death toll at 9 on the government and civilian side---4 soldiers and a policeman and four civilians.

The most recent fatality was a member of the Special Action Force (SAF) of the Philippine National Police.

According to dela Cruz, the firefight reportedly killed four rogue rebels.

Earlier, PNP chief Gen. Nicanor Bartolome sent teams of SAF to help the military decimate Umbrakato’s forces.

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Jaime Sinapit | InterAksyon.com | August 12, 2012 | Article Link

1 cop dead in latest BIFM attack

COTABATO CITY, Philippines- Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement bandits gunned down a member of the police’s elite Special Action Force in another attack Friday night, just as powerful bombs exploded one after another in three areas in Central Mindanao.

Police Director Manuel Barcena, chief of the Directorate for Integrated Police Operations in Southwestern Mindanao, said the slain policeman, PO1 Randy Dumaguing, belonged to a SAF battalion just deployed along stretches of the Cotabato-Gen. Santos Highway BIFM guerillas occupied from Monday dawn until Thursday.

“The unit was deployed there for law enforcement activities after our counterparts in the Army drove the bandits away,” Barcena said.

Barcena said the Maguindanao provincial police and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group are to file criminal charges anytime soon against commanders of the BIFM that led guerillas in their four-day siege of portions of the highway traversing the adjoining towns of Datu Saudi, Datu Unsay, Shariff Aguak.

The hostilities in four towns started with the BIFM’s simultaneous attacks before midnight Sunday on Army roadside detachments and command posts along portions of the highway in the four towns and in Guindulungan and Ampatuan municipalities. In Maguindanao, they also plundered villages and robbed farmers of farm animals and set off bombs that sent villagers running for their lives.

The bandits also set on fire more than 50 houses of civilians and bombed evacuation sites.
“The portions of the highway that were closed to traffic the past days have been re-opened, but the security remains tight,” Barcena said.

The BIFM guerillas attacked the SAF unit in Datu Unsay just hours after its deployment in the area.

“That was a sad development,” Barcena said.

While SAF operatives were fighting BIFM guerillas, suspected members of the group blasted improvised explosive devices along a national highway in North Cotabato’s adjoining Mlang and Kabacan towns, and Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao, not far from the Army’s Camp Siongco beside the Cotabato City Airport.

There were no reports of casualties, but the bombings triggered panic in the areas where the bombers set them off.

Local officials said Friday night’s attack on the SAF members in Datu Unsay and the bombings could be the BIFM’s retaliation for the heavy losses in their five-day brigandage.

Members of the municipal peace and order councils in the towns the BIFM attacked have confirmed that 27 bandits were killed in the Army’s counter-offensives which waned only last Friday morning. 

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John Unson | The Philippine Star | August 11, 2012 | Article Link

Army official says purging of Marawi voters' list triggered ambush near MSU

The purging of Marawi City's voters' list could have been the motive behind Wednesday night's ambush near the Mindanao State University which resulted in the killing of three soldies and a 6-year-old girl, a regional military commander said Thursday.  

Thirteen others, including 10 soldiers and three civilians, were wounded in the attack.

In a phone interview with GMA News Online, Col. Daniel Lucero, commander of the 103rd Brigade, said the attack could have been perpetrated by relatives of an influential Marawi politician.

"The active participation of the Army in the reduction of ghost voters in Marawi City [has been] taken as a threat to their political existence," Lucero said.

From an estimated 67,000 registered voters in April 2011, which included minors and multiple registrants, Lucero said the list has been trimmed down to about 43,000. The number is expected to be further slashed.

Two of the suspects have been identified as one Otik Awar and another merely as Satar.

The police, prosecution, judiciary, penal and civil society have been cowed by threats of the politically influential clan, Lucero said.

“[However], cases against these gang members as a result of past killings of Army troops are now [being] prepared to be filed at the DOJ (Department of Justice),” he added.
 

For his part, Captain Albert Caber, spokesperson for the Army's 1st Infantry Division told GMA News Online that they suspect the attack could also be in retaliation for the military's participation in the campaign against illegal logging and illegal drugs.

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Patricia Denise Chiu | GMA News Online | August 9, 2012 | Article Link

Troops assault breakaway rebel lairs

DAVAO CITY -- Hundreds of troops, backed by assault helicopters, launched offensives on two strongholds of a breakaway Moro rebel group that attacked 14 military camps and outposts in Mindanao, officials said Thursday.

The brazen attacks since Sunday left at least four soldiers dead including one who was beheaded, while at least two rebels were killed in the counteroffensive, according to the government.

But a regional army spokesman, Colonel Prudencio Asto, said the rebel death toll had reached 15 by Thursday, citing intelligence reports. This could not be independently confirmed.

The rebel group broke off last year from the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which is involved in peace talks with the government.

Known as the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement (BIFM), the group opposes the negotiations, and has vowed to continue fighting for an independent homeland for minority Muslims in the south of the predominantly Roman Catholic nation.

The group's leader Ameril Umbra Kato had a stroke in November, plunging his group into uncertainty, but the renewed fighting indicates he still has firepower.

Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm) Governor Mujiv Hataman said the military and police have strengthened security in public areas in a five-province region that he heads to prevent diversionary attacks like bombings from Kato's fighters.

"We cannot allow any group to carry out brazen attacks and get away with it," Hataman said.

Troops were moving cautiously to avoid widespread disruptions amid the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, he said.

More than 25,000 residents have been displaced by the fighting, according to the Office of Civil Defense.

The fighting this week is among the worst since 2008, when the peace talks bogged down, igniting clashes between MILF forces and government troops in Maguindanao and outlying provinces. That fighting killed hundreds and displaced 750,000 people before the two sides agreed to a ceasefire.

The government said the attacks by Kato's forces on 14 military camps, detachments and outposts were meant to derail its negotiations with MILF, which are being brokered by Malaysia. Still, the talks resumed in Malaysia Wednesday.

Military officials said army assaults were focused on a vast marshland and two abandoned villages in Maguindanao's Datu Unsay town where the breakaway rebels have taken position.

Army troops, backed by artillery and tank fire, have advanced slowly in areas rigged with booby traps.

A key Maguindanao highway, which was closed down after rebel sniper fire killed two passing commuters earlier in the week, was briefly reopened and then shut again Thursday due to lingering threats, regional deputy military commander Romeo Santiago Nebres said.

Pursuit operations also continued Thursday in nearby Marawi City in Lanao del Sur, one of the five Moro-dominated provinces comprising the Armm, after heavily armed men opened fire on an Army patrol inside the sprawling Mindanao State University, killing three soldiers and a 10-year-old boy, and wounding 20 students.

Colonel Daniel Lucero, chief of the Army's 103rd Infantry Brigade in Marawi City, said the soldiers were responding to indiscriminate rifle shots inside the 433-hectare campus when attacked by armed men believed to be involved in illegal drugs activity inside the campus Wednesday evening.

Reports released by the office of Governor Hataman said that close to 20 students have been hit in crossfire between soldiers and the gang of suspected criminal syndicate.

The attack happened around 9 p.m. Wednesday, Marawi Mayor Fahad Salic said over a television report on Thursday. He said the boy, who was inside a house, was killed probably by a stray bullet.

Lucero identified the gang leader as Otik Gamal, who has about 20 followers, mostly relatives of the city mayor, according to sources quoted by the Army officer.

"The university is closed right now. None can enter nor leave the campus. Students are scared, rifles are fired inside the campus," Lucero said in Filipino.

Hataman quickly dispelled rumors that the campus attack is related to the ongoing skirmishes between government forces and Islamic rebel forces in Central Mindanao.

"Last night's attack to a contingent of the military conducting mobile patrol in Mindanao State University in Marawi City was perpetrated by lawless elements. Security and law enforcement operations are ongoing. We also support all efforts to curb the ongoing drug syndicate inside the MSU campus," Hataman said.

He said the regional government will definitely flex its muscles "to clamp down these people who use the academic institution as a haven of their illegal business while destroying lives of our people."

"There is no truth to the information circulating on Twitter, Facebook and social media which alleged that war has allegedly broken out in Mindanao. Please refrain from sharing and posting similar information so as not to cause due panic," the governor added.

Hataman assured that the military, in cooperation with the local police and other civilian authorities, is addressing the sporadic encounters in Maguindanao province.

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SunStar.Com.Ph | August 9, 2012 | Article Link

8 killed in Maguindanao gunbattles

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - Eight people have been killed in firefights between government troops and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement (BIFM) fighters in the towns of Guindulungan, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Datu Unsay, Shariff Aguak, and Datu Hoffer in Maguindanao in the last 4 days.

Four of the 8 people killed were civilians. They include a 34-year-old woman who was killed in an attack at an evacuation center in Shariff Aguak.

Four soldiers were also killed.

Army 6th Infantry Division commander Major General Rey Ardo said the 2 of the slain soldiers were killed at a checkpoint manned by the former Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels at Datu Unsay national highway. 

"Pupunta sana sila ng Cotabato city para mag-loan pero pinigil at pinatay. Hindi naman pinugutan, pero may mga taga," Ardo said.

Mortar shellings and exchange of gunfire continued Thursday.

It did not stop ARMM Social Welfare Assistant Secretary Pombaen Kadir in leading the distribution of relief goods in the 3 evacuation centers in Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Maguindanao.

"As of today, we have more than 5,000 families evacuated and now temporarily staying in the evacuation centers," Kadir said.

It's been 4 days since the national highway of Datu Saudi going to Shariff Aguak has been closed.

The military said this is to ensure that no motorists will be caught in the crossfire.
The situation has prompted transportation companies, such as a bus firm, to re-route all its vehicles from south to north bound.

Aside from attacking towns in Maguindanao, the BIFM has also been involved in incidents in the towns of Midsayap and Pikit in North Cotabato.

Local government officials in the province have urged the BIFM to stop the attacks.

The MILF has also already condemned the breakaway group for the attacks.

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 Lerio Bompat | ABS-CBN Central Mindanao | August 9, 2012 | Article Link

4 killed in Marawi ambush

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATE) – A boy and at least three soldiers were killed after an unidentified group ambushed the Philippine Army in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur on Wednesday night.

Initial reports said an undetermined number of suspects fired shots at members of the 65th Infantry Battalion on patrol near the Mindanao State University (MSU) at around 9 p.m.

Three soldiers were killed and at least 12 others were injured during the firefight that lasted for about 30 minutes.

Sr. Supt. Romeo Magsalos of Philippine National Police - Lanao del Sur, confirmed that a 10-year-old boy was one of the fatalities.

Magsalos also said two students were injured.

The clash has reportedly forced the university administration to put the entire university in a lockdown, according to Twitter user Khal Mambuay (@iamkhalmambuay).

“Classes in #MSUMarawi have been suspended. No one is allowed to enter and leave the campus premises,” Mambuay said.

“Everyone is discouraged to go outside from their dormitories or houses. #MSUMarawi is temporarily in a lock down situation,” she added.

The 103rd Infantry Brigade under Commander Daniel Lucero has ordered a pursuit operation against the attackers.

The attack comes in the wake of the clash earlier this week between the military and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, a breakaway group from of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The 103rd Infantry Brigade under Commander Daniel Lucero has ordered a pursuit operation against the attackers.

The government said the attacks were apparently meant to derail negotiations with the larger, more mainstream MILF.

The breakaway rebels are headed by Ameril Umbra Kato, a hardline Saudi Arabia-educated guerrilla who split from the 12,000-strong MILF after it dropped its bid for full independence to negotiate for an autonomous region.

Kato has boasted of having about 5,000 armed fighters, though military officials believe he only has a few hundred under his command.

The government has said it hopes to sign a peace deal with the MILF by the end of the year, but has asked the MILF leadership to help contain the forces of Kato, who opposes peace talks.

The Mindanao insurgency began in the early 1970s and the fighting has killed some 150,000 people, miring large parts of the south in deep poverty.

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Ronnie Enderes | ABS-CBN  News Online | August 9, 2012 | Article Link

Military convoy hit by roadside bomb in Maguindanao

DAVAO CITY, Philippines - A military convoy traversing the Cotabato-Isulan highway was hit by an improvised roadside bomb in the town of Datu Hoffer, Maguindanao, on Wednesday morning, August 8, a military officer said.

Col Prudencio Asto, spokesman of the military’s 6th Infantry Division, said the convoy had 5 M35 trucks, 3 KM 250 trucks and two civilian vehicles and was on its way to Datu Hoffer Municipal Hall from Barangay Kamasi, Ampatuan.

 

The improvised bomb hit the convoy at around 6 a.m., hurting one soldier identified as Cpl Joseph Primavera.

On Sunday evening, August 5, rebels attacked Maguindanao towns, triggering renewed firefights between the Army and members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Liberation Fighters, a breakaway group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The MILF resumed its peace talks with the government last August 7 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

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Karlos Manlupig | Rappler.Com | August 8, 2012 | Article Link

MILF unit clashes with army in Maguindanao, cuts power to some towns

(Updated 11:10 a.m.) - At least six persons have been wounded in sporadic fighting between Army troops and a rogue unit of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in Maguindanao, authorities said Monday.

 

Maguindanao police chief Senior Superintendent Marcelo Pintac said the encounter started at midnight Sunday between the Army and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.

 

"Kagabi mga 12, nagkaroon ng palitan ng putok ang Army at (Bangsamoro) Islamic Freedom Fighter, dating kasapi, breakaway group ng MILF. Ngayon may engkwentro na naman," Pintac said in an interview on dzBB radio.

 

He said the BIFF is allied with the group of rogue MILF commander Umbra Kato, who was linked to attacks in Mindanao in 2008 after the Supreme Court thumbed down a Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain.

 

Pintac cited initial reports reaching him indicating a member of the Army was shot and wounded, but was still alive. He said the soldier was not involved in the encounter.

 

"May tinamaan na isa, dumaan na sundalo, ‘di kasali sa giyera ... Buhay pa naman," he said.

 

Also, Pintac said the rogue unit has cut off power to at least 11 towns, and burned at least two houses.

 

But he said there was no need for augmentation at this time. "Kaya pa rito," he said.

A separate report by dzBB's Glen Juego said the latest attack occurred at 7:30 a.m.

 

The report said the Army is now coordinating with the MILF to de-escalate tension in the affected areas.

 

Philippine Army spokesman Maj. Harold Cabunoc said the MILF is helping provide information on the presence of armed groups.

 

"'Yung MILF, ang ilan nagbigay ng information sa presensya ng armadong grupo na 'di kasama sa kanilang hanay," Cabunoc said on dzBB radio.

 

Cabunoc said the BIFF appeared loyal to Kato. He said their latest information on Kato indicated he could no longer walk but still commands loyalty from his men.

 

For now, he said the Army will remain on "defense mode" and prevent the conflict from escalating.

 

"Defense mode pa tayo. Iwasan natin ma-escalate ang conflict," he said.

Maguindanao towns affected

Col. Mayoralgo dela Cruz, commanding officer of the Army’s 1st Mechanized Brigade, said the simultaneous attacks on Sunday night also included roadside blasts, using rocket-propelled grenades.

 

The fighting resulted to evacuation of at least 131 families from several villages in Datu Unsay town in Maguindanao.

 

Also affected were villagers from towns of Shariff Aguak and Datu Saudi, both in Maguindanao.

 

Col. Roy Galido, commanding officer of the Army’s 40th Infantry Battalion, said BIFF members also harassed their detachment in Barangay Kapinpilan in Midsayap exactly midnight Sunday, pounding its surroundings with anti-tank rocket-propelled grenades and raking bunkers of soldiers with assault rifles.

 

In Pikit town, town chief Inspector Elias Dandan said that a grenade exploded along the highway in Barangay Batulawan, around 12:45 a.m. Monday.

 

Dandan said the grenade was thrown in front of a CAFGU detachment. Four CAFGU operatives and another civilian were wounded during the blast, according to Supiter.

 

Wounded CAFGU were identified as Arman Singson, Rickson Prenal, Jigz Oracoy, and Crisito Neri.

 

Also hurt during the blast was a civilian identified as Mary Jane Singson.

 

Dandan hinted the grenade attack along the highway in Pikit town was connected to the ongoing armed fighting in Maguindanao towns.

 

A villager identified as Tho from Datu Unsay, Maguindanao disclosed to media that since Friday, residents in the area evacuated to safer places after they were warned that the BIFF fighters would launch massive attacks against the Army in Maguindanao and North Cotabato.

 

Tho said the villagers are experiencing difficulty since Monday morning.

 

“We are still on a fast and we have no food to eat because of the fighting,” Tho told media.

 

An Army official in Maguindanao said that the mechanized units in Southwest Mindanao was the first attack of the BIFF, four years after Kato led the assault against Armed Forces and government security installations in the area.

 

To prevent civilians and commuters being hit by bullets and mortars, the Army in Maguindanao set up road blocks along the Maguindanao-Sultan Kudarat highway.

 

Since 2 a.m., today, vehicles were prevented from proceeding to towns of Datu Unsay, Guindulungan, and Datu Saudi Ampatuan where the heavy exchange of gun fires was taking place.

 

Mayoralgo said they were forced to close portions of the national highways criss-crossing the affected towns in Maguindanao due to threats on the safety of motorists and commuters. 

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GMA News Online | August 6, 2012 | Article Link

Philippines captures top Al-Qaeda linked militant

Philippine authorities have arrested a founding member of the Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group blamed for some of the worst terror attacks in the region, security officials said on Sunday.

Ustadz Ahmadsali Asmad Badron, also known as Ammad or Hamad Ustadz Idris, was arrested on Saturday in the remote Tawi-Tawi islands in the southern Philippines.

Police criminal investigation regional chief Edgar Danao said Badron was one of the original members of Abu Sayyaf, which was founded in the 1990s using seed money from Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

"Badron was among the trusted members of (Abu Sayyaf) who made millions of pesos in ransom money collected from their operations," Danao said.

Along with one of his cousins Badron worked alongside Galib Andang, a notorious Abu Sayyaf leader well known as "Commander Robot".

The group carried out a daring cross-border raid on a Malaysian resort in April 2000 and kidnapped dozens of foreign tourists.

It gained Abu Sayyaf international notoriety even as the hostages were freed in batches after millions were paid following ransom negotiations brokered by Libya, officials said.

The group has also been blamed for the worst extremist attacks in Philippine history including a ferry bombing in Manila in 2004 that killed more than 100 people.

Subsequent US-backed operations against Abu Sayyaf led to the killing of key leaders, while many others including Andang were arrested, but he was later killed in a botched attempt to escape in 2005.

While on the run, Badron allegedly helped foreign militants from another regional terror group, the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), to hide in the southern Philippines.

The JI is blamed for a spate of deadly attacks in Indonesia, including the 2002 bombings on the Indonesian resort island of Bali that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists.

Badron's arrest came as troops were hunting down another Abu Sayyaf unit on the nearby Basilan island following clashes that left at least 10 soldiers dead last week.

While the government has repeatedly branded the Abu Sayyaf a spent force, experts say the group remains an enduring security threat with hundreds of fighters still active.

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Agence France-Presse/Yahoo News Online | July 30, 2012 | Article Link

10 soldiers killed in Basilan clash

MANILA (3rd UPDATE) - Philippine elite troops backed by helicopter gunships fought Al-Qaeda-linked militants Thursday in the group's stronghold on a southern island, in clashes that killed 19 people, the military said.

The soldiers battled Islamic extremists from the Abu Sayyaf group on the troubled island of Basilan, with the fighting leaving at least 10 soldiers and 9 militants dead.

Western Mindanao Command spokesperson Lt. Col. Randolph Cabangbang said 8 of the soldiers died in the morning clash in Barangay Upper Cabengbeng, Sumisip town. Two more soldiers died in another skirmish in the afternoon. At least 16 soldiers were wounded.

Cabangbang said nine bandits died in the firefight, including local Abu Sayyaf leader Juhair Aliman, Ustadz Hassan Asnawi, Jumaidi Asnawi, Narham Asnawi, Jarad Marain and Jaz Umangkat.

Casualty figures may be even higher as not all the fallen Abu Sayyaf fighters were recovered, the military said.

Cabangbang said Thursday’s clash was triggered by an alleged harassment of the bandit group of soldiers stationed near a rubber plantation in the area on Wednesday.

According to Cabangbang, the attack was perpetrated by Wyms Wakil, a former assistant manager of the rubber plantation’s cooperative who was fired last year.

Cabangbang said Wakil also has links to separatist group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) but is “more inclined” to work with the Abu Sayyaf Group.

“For the past nine months he did nothing but to harass the rubber plantation employees. So far 16 already died and 34 were wounded from the side of the workers. He has some ax to grind,” Cabangbang told ABS-CBN News Channel.

The latest of the attacks was carried out last July 11, where at least six people died and 22 were wounded.

The plantation workers' cooperative operating in the area had previously received extortion letters purportedly from the Abu Sayyaf demanding payment of over $1,000 a month in exchange for not being harmed.

Cabangbang said troops seemed to have trapped some of the bandits in a portion of the province and the military will be sending reinforcements in the area.

“We are ready to re-engage, we will be re-supplying them (soldiers) today. Our wounded have been evacuated already. We will try to engage them again today and tomorrow,” Cabangbang said.

Abu Sayyaf Group, which was founded in the 1990s with seed money from then Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, has been blamed for the worst terror attacks in Philippine history including deadly bombings and kidnappings for ransom.

The heavily-forested island of Basilan has long been a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf.

About 600 US troops have been rotating through the southern Philippines for a decade to help train local troops in hunting the Abu Sayyaf. However the Americans are barred from taking part in combat.

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Agence France-Presse/ABS-CBNnews.com | July 27, 2012 | Article Link

Police kill rebel who kidnapped Americans

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (AFP) - Police shot dead a Muslim guerrilla who was allegedly behind the kidnapping of two Americans in the southern Philippines, officials said on Monday, June 18.

Police commandos killed Wahid Pingli in a raid Sunday, June 17, on his home on Sacol island, off the coast of Zamboanga City, said regional commander Chief Superintendent Napoleon Estilles.

He allegedly abducted American Gerfa Yeatts Lunsmann and her 14-year-old son Kevin as well as a teenage Filipino nephew while they were vacationing in the troubled south in July.

"Wahid's group are also said to be responsible for extortion activities, harassment and kidnapping of prominent families and teachers in this city," Estilles told reporters.

The mother and the Filipino relative were freed unharmed in October while Kevin Lunsmann walked free in December amid suspicions that ransom was paid.

Documents found in the raid showed that Pingli was a member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a Muslim separatist group that is engaged in peace talks with the government, Estilles said.

An assault rifle, a grenade launcher and bullets were also recovered, the police commander added.

MILF spokesman Von al-Haq confirmed that Pingli was a member but denied that he was involved in kidnappings.

"He is innocent and we are still confirming the veracity of the reports against our slain comrade," he told AFP.

The MILF will file a protest with the government over the killing which violated the ceasefire agreement between the two sides, he added.

The MILF waged a rebellion for more than three decades, originally for the establishment of an independent state in Mindanao, the southern third of the mainly Catholic Philippines.

In recent years it has dropped its independence demand and signed a ceasefire with Manila in order to negotiate for autonomous control over large areas of Mindanao.

However many Muslim extremists have turned to kidnapping for ransom to raise money, often targeting foreigners.

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Agence France-Presse | June 18, 2012 | Article Link

Ex-Moro reb tagged in kidnap of Chinese

COTABATO CITY—Authorities on Wednesday pointed to a renegade Moro guerrilla leader as the head of a group of armed men that kidnapped two Chinese mining ore traders last Monday.

Captain Albert Caber, spokesperson of the Army’s 1st Infantry Division, said in an interview with a radio station here that Waning Abdusalam, a former member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), was the leader of the group that kidnapped Jampong Lin-Yuankai, 38, and Jian Luo, 48, of Guandong, China on Monday in Kabasalan, Zamboanga Sibugay.

Caber said authorities still do not know where the captives are being kept.

He said the two Chinese are engaged in trading of manganese and copper ores and have been in Kabasalan since last year.

At least six men, who introduced themselves as National Bureau of Investigation agents, forced their way into the Chinese traders’ apartment a few meters from the town hall in Kabasalan and took the Chinese at gunpoint.

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Philippine Daily Inquirer | June 7, 2012 | Article Link

AFP admits planning lapses in first year of Bayanihan

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has admitted that several operational lapses it committed last year have overshadowed significant gains achieved, especially in Mindanao, during the first year of implementation of the military’s internal peace and security plan (IPSP) Bayanihan.

In its assessment of IPSP Bayanihan, the AFP leadership cited the operational blunders in 2011, like the attacks by the communist New People’s Army (NPA) in Surigao del Norte, in Al Barka, Basilan, in Sulu and in Zamboanga Sibugay.

“The AFP is a big organization, and mistakes still happen. While significant gains were achieved by AFP troops in Mindanao, it is unfortunate that such gains were overshadowed by lapses in joint planning of combat operations resulting in blunders like (the attacks in) Taganito Mining in Surigao del Norte; Patikul, Sulu; Al-Barka, Basilan and in Zamboanga Sibugay,” the AFP stated in its assessment paper.

It will be recalled that last October, some 200 NPA rebels raided three mining compounds in Barangay Taganito in Claver, Surigao del Norte, burning P2- billion worth of mining equipment.

This was followed by the Oct. 18 bungled operation in Al-Barka, Basilan that led to the killing of 19 Special Forces personnel, including four junior officers, who were sent to serve warrants of arrest against Dan Laksaw Asnawi, commander of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Abu Sayyaf leader Long Malat.

Days later, at least eight police and military troops were killed during separate ambushes staged by MILF rebels in Alicia town, Zamboanga Sibugay province.

Three months earlier, seven Marines were killed in a clash with Abu Sayyaf bandits in Patikul, Sulu.

The military, however, claimed that it made headway in its campaign against the Abu Sayyaf and cited arrangements with the MILF, particularly the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group, aimed at preventing hostilities.

The AFP acknowledged that operational lapses were among the challenges faced by the military during the first year of implementation of the IPSP Bayanihan, which was officially launched in January 2011. It was designed to defeat insurgency by 2016.

The AFP also admitted the need to improve its civil military operations and other humanitarian activities, in coordination with other government agencies, to continue making headway in its fight to end insurgency and armed conflict in the country.

The military called on the government peace panel negotiating peace with the communist organization, and the civilian sector to exert “social pressure” to bring the National Democratic Front (NDF) back to the negotiating table. It also pushed for the resumption and sustenance of the social integration program (SIP) to entice rebels to give up fight against government.

“The suspension of the SIP has brought negative consequences in terms of convincing more rebels to return to the folds of the law,” the AFP said. 

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Mario J. Mallari | The Daily Tribune | June 3, 2012 | Article Link