Troops overrun MILF camp, but fail to get Bravo--military
By Joel Guinto, Richel Umel
INQUIRER.net, Mindanao Bureau
First Posted 11:47:00 08/28/2008
POONA PIAGAPO, Lanao del Norte -- (UPDATE 5) Government troops overran a Moro rebel stronghold in Lanao del Norte after weeks of fighting that has left about 150 dead, but failed to catch one of the leaders of the Moro rebels’ attacks, military officials said.
Major General Nehemias Pajarito, commander of the military's 1st Infantry Division, said Camp Bilal Dahul Shurada, in the villages of Nunungan and Tangklaw in Munai town, which is allegedly under the command of Abdurahman Macapaar, alias Commander Bravo, was abandoned by the time Army troops entered it around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, said Lieutenant General Cardozo Luna, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) vice chief of staff.
In the wake of the capture of the Bilal complex, AFP chief of staff General Alexander Yano called on the troops to press on with the offensives and "show the MILF hierarchy that we are serious [in] punishing their members who refused to give peace a chance."
"The offensive against the MILF was participated in by four infantry battalions. Bravo was not able to defend his camp," Pajarito said, adding that 26 rebels were killed in the taking of Bilal.
Macapaar is the alleged brains of MILF attacks on five Lanao del Norte towns on August 18 that left at least 28 civilians and three government troopers, including an Army lieutenant colonel, dead.
But Captain Maamo Alonto and Brigadier General Mark Antonio Supnet, commander of the 104th Infantry Brigade, said the assault took place Thursday morning.
“Bravo did not put up a fight like what he promised in one of his interviews. He ran away before our troops entered Bilal complex,” Supnet said in a text message.
Supnet said Macapaar is believed to have fled to Piagapo town in Lanao del Sur.
Pajarito called the capture of Bilal, which he described as a "training ground for MILF fighters and [a] factory of explosives," a victory. He said the complex has tunnels and foxholes.
Supnet said soldiers recovered explosives and mortars, syringes and documents.
Brigadier General Hilario Atendido, head of a task force hunting the insurgents, said there were reports that a 300-man rebel unit had broken up into smaller bands of 50 men and scattered in different directions.
In Cotabato City, the MILF said it will maintain a defensive stance amid the military assaults.
"We have no choice, the joint ceasefire committee has been rendered ineffective. We have to shoot back if we are attacked," Eid Kabalu, MILF civil military affairs chief, said.
Kabalu also reiterated the MILF's position not to surrender Macapaar and Maguindanao MILF leader Ameril Ombra Kato.
"Kahit [Even during] Ramadan when we are supposed to be physically weak because of fasting, we have to defend ourselves if attacked," Kabalu said. Ramadan is the Muslim holy month of fasting, which begins September 1.
In Manila, military chief General Alexander Yano said the hunt for Bravo and fellow Kato must be pursued to its end.
Luna estimated that the Bilal complex was about the size of Camp Aguinaldo, the AFP general headquarters in Manila. He said the complex had been captured once, during the all-out war against the MILF in 2000, but was returned to the rebels when peace negotiations resumed.
Over the weekend, the military said it has overran 15 MILF camps and communities, including Camp Vietnam in Maguindanao province, a satellite training camp under Kato, who led rebels who occupied several villages in North Cotabato early this month.
Since early August, fighting in Central Mindanao has left 55 people dead and 69 others wounded, while more than 220,000 have been displaced, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said.
North Cotabato Vice Governor Emmanuel Piñol said they want the government to declare the MILF a terrorist organization "on the grounds of the atrocities they carried out in the province."
"Because of the attacks they committed, we want the government to declare the entire MILF organization as terrorist organization," Piñol said.
"It's up to them. We are not in a position to prevent them from doing that. But I think it's only part of grandstanding and arrogance. They are opposed to us so we expect they would do that," Kabalu said.
Edwin O. Fernandez and Jeoffrey Maitem, Inquirer Mindanao; Agence Frannce Presse
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