Firefight between gov’t, MILF forces erupts in Maguindanao

DAVAO CITY—A firefight between members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and government forces broke out in the town of Datu Saudi in Maguindanao on Wednesday morning.

Von Al Haq, vice chair for military affairs of the MILF, said the fighting started at around 10 a.m. after government forces, who are on a pursuit operation against the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), intruded into an identified base of the group’s 105th Base Command.

“We were shocked when we received reports about the incident because we were informed about the ongoing military operations against the BIFF and we told the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) through the ceasefire mechanism to be careful because we have a base near the area,” Al-Haq said.

He explained that the MILF was confident that there will be no complications because they have informed the military about the location of the 105th Base Command under Commander Haon.

“The MILF immediately activated our ceasefire committee to pacify the fighting. We also asked the International Monitoring Team (IMT) to help troubleshoot the problem,” Al Haq said.

Sources said that the ceasefire mechanism is now using all means to stop the fighting including the help of both peace panels, however, sporadic firefight is still going on as of press time.

Reports said that a government soldier was wounded in the incident while an MILF member was killed.

“Both the MILF and the government through the help of the IMT should investigate why this incident happened despite our efforts to inform about the location of our forces,” Al Haq said.

The MILF said that the peace agreement still stands and that the leadership is optimistic that the incident will be resolved and will not escalate. RAM

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