Stronghold of Kato falls, says Army

KORONADAL CITY—Government forces on Tuesday seized a stronghold of breakaway Moro rebels in the mountains of Datu Unsay, Maguindanao, and said they would soon take over smaller camps belonging to the group of Ameril Umra Kato, a former leader of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Col. Prudencio Asto, spokesperson of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said by phone that three battalions of soldiers on Monday started assaulting Hill 714, also known as Camp Omar of Kato’s Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).

Soldiers, led by Col. Edmundo Pangilinan and backed by armored personnel carriers, took full control of the camp around 3 p.m. yesterday, according to Asto.

“The hill served as the command, control point and stronghold of the BIFF,” Asto said.

Pangilinan said the camp sits on a 4-square-kilometer land surrounded by trenches that can fit more than 100 men.

High ground

“They covered their trenches with mud. They have a good camp built on high ground. The camp also has quarters made of light materials. We believe it’s for their commanders,” Pangilinan said.

But Pangilinan said the soldiers were not done yet. “We are just half way. We will still get their satellite camps. In the meantime, we will protect this camp so they cannot retake it,” he said.

He said bomb experts were checking the area for land mines. Asto said there was fierce resistance from the rebels, “but at the height of gun fighting they abandoned their camp.”

He said the government side suffered minimal casualty.

“Kato’s house was also seized by our men. But he was not around,”  Asto said.

Kato used to head the MILF’s 105th Base Command. He was tagged  leader of attacks on civilian communities in North Cotabato in 2008, following the botched signing of the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain between the government and MILF peace panels.

Sick leader

Asto said intelligence men cited reports that said Kato was seen being carried by his followers out of Camp Omar on Aug. 6.

“They knew we were going to get their camp at all cost so they took him away,” Asto said. He said Kato was sick and was not directly in charge of his men.

“We are trying to figure out who is leading them now,” Asto said.

Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo said the government would file charges against members of BIFF for attacks on civilian communities and military outposts.

Robredo, however, said authorities were investigating attacks in places where Kato doesn’t have forces.

Clashes between Kato’s group and soldiers have displaced at least 40,000 people in Maguindanao who are now staying in schools.

Officials of the province said permanent evacuation centers should be built in the province to stop the disruption of classes by evacuations.

Meriam Kawit, Maguindanao schools division superintendent, said students suffered from disruption of classes even if their communities were not directly affected by flooding or armed conflicts.

Schools suffer

Classes had to be suspended in the Maguindanao town centers of Shariff Aguak, Datu Unsay, Datu Saudi, Datu Hofer and Ampatuan even if these were not sites of the fighting between Kato’s group and soldiers.

Evacuees from areas where the fighting is taking place had to move to the town centers where schools were converted into evacuation centers.

Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu said the provincial government would study the proposal and submit it to the provincial council for deliberation.

“It would depend on the availability of funds. But, for now, I support such a move,” he said.

Acting Gov. Mujiv Hataman, of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said building multipurpose structures could address the concerns of education and health officials in areas where evacuations regularly occur.

In Naga City, top military officials said a battalion of Scout Rangers would be transferred from Bicol to Mindanao.

“They are more needed in Mindanao,” said Maj. Angelo Guzman, spokesperson of the 9th Infantry Division.

The military, said Guzman, had been successful in the war on insurgents in Bicol that the transfer of Scout Rangers to Mindanao would not hurt the counterinsurgency campaign in the region. Jeoffrey Maitem and Charlie C Señase, Inquirer Mindanao, with a report from Juan Escandor Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzon