3,000 flee from MNLF, MILF standoff in North Cotabato village
By Edwin Fernandez
Close to 3,000 individuals from three adjoining villages here have fled their homes as rival Moro rebel groups continue war posturing despite localized truce.
Close to 3,000 individuals from three adjoining villages here have fled their homes as rival Moro rebel groups continue war posturing despite localized truce.
Police and Army personnel are now standing in between warring Moro rebel groups in a remote village here while top level efforts to address misunderstanding are underway.
The Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement (BIFM) has assured election candidates that it is safe to campaign in rebel territories.
A negotiated political settlement to the long-running Moro rebellion in Mindanao is only a short-term solution, conceded government chief negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer.
Two bomb explosions jolted Datu Saudi Ampatuan town in Maguindanao Monday morning, killing a Moro rebel and wounding seven comrades.
The influential Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has intervened to patch up the kinks hindering efforts to unify the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) for Bangsamoro empowerment.
Two civilians were hurt when Moro rebels clashed in Maguindanao at dawn Monday, the military here said.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has moved to curb the military activities of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement (BIFM) “in the interest of Moro civilians and the future of the peace process.”
A security officer and two civilians were wounded in a roadside bombing near a police camp in Maguindanao on Wednesday and authorities immediately put the blame on the splinter rebel group, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, headed by Ameril Umra Kato.
Moro rebel leader Ameril Umbra Kato of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement was hospitalized in one of Cebu’s posh hospitals last month that was “facilitated and bankrolled” by a politician, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front said.
Government soldiers on Saturday captured two satellite camps of the breakaway Moro rebel group Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in the mountains of Datu Unsay and Datu Hoffer towns in Maguindanao.
Colonel Prudencio Asto, speaking for the military’s 6th Infantry Division, said one of the hilltop camps could accommodate more than 100 men and had small makeshift clinic and bunkers.
“We are at the door of an agreement.” This was how government chief negotiator Marvic Leonen described the progress of the Philippine government’s peace negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Three Moro rebels were killed as they clashed Saturday with followers of a barangay (village) chairman in North Cotabato and sent about 500 families fleeing, the military here said.
