MILF men clash with breakaway comrades

COTABATO CITY, Philippines—Moro Islamic Liberation Front  forces clashed with former comrades in Maguindanao on Tuesday but there has been no report of casualties on either side, the police reported  Thursday.

Senior Superintendent Jaime Pido, who recently replaced Senior Superintendent Marcelo Pintac as Maguindanao police chief, said the clash between MILF forces and armed men belonging to the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters of Ameril Umra Kato took place in Datu Saudi town.

“Authorities have yet to determine if there were casualties on both sides,” Pido said.

He said residents, who had just returned home following the August 5 BIFF attacks, fled anew but the exact number of evacuees was still undetermined.

Pido said tension was still high in the area.

Abu Hizbala, BIFF deputy spokesperson, confirmed that their forces clashed with MILF guerrillas.

Speaking over a radio station here, Hizbala said MILF forces attacked their position in Datu Saudi town but he said nothing about casualties.

Von Al Haq, MILF spokesperson, said in a separate interview MILF forces were fired upon by BIFF members in Barangay Katapan in Datu Saudi, which triggered the firefight.

In Sultan sa Barongis town, renewed clashes also took place on Wednesday but this time  the fighting was between two rival factions of the MILF.

Mayor Jacob Ampatuan of Rajah Buayan, which is adjacent to Sultan sa Barongis, said the clashes started Wednesday.

“This is part of the feud that sprang from unresolved land disputes among the commanders of the MILF’s 105th and 106th base commands,” Ampatuan said by phone.

Colonel Prudencio Asto, spokesperson of the military’s 6th Infantry Division, said soldiers in Sultan sa Barongis and Mamasapano, where the clashes had spread, have been ordered to stand guard and prevent the rebels from encroaching into civilian communities.