1,400 families evacuated from North Cotabato, Maguindanao

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — At least 1,400 families were evacuated from Maguindanao and North Cotabato due to the ongoing fighting between government troops and More rebels for fear that they will be used as human shields.
Military data showed that the families that fled from their homes in Datu Piang and Shariff Saydona Mustapha, Rajah Buayan in Maguindanao and in Pikit in North Cotabato.

“The residents of the towns were not all evacuated but only those in far-flung areas. We asked them to take shelter because they might be used as human shields,” Major Dante Gania, public affairs officer of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division said.

The intermittent fighting in parts of Maguindanao started on Sunday when government forces served arrest warrant to members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters facing crime charges. The encounters came after the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front sealed a peace agreement. The BIFF is the breakaway group of the MILF.

The military said in previous reports that the clashes were not connected with the peace deal.

The military also claimed that the fighting has killed 17 rebels. Two soldiers sustained shrapnel wounds.

Gania also said that before the law enforcement operations, they asked civilians to evacuate to safer areas through the help of local officials.

“If the law enforcement had been served, normalcy will return to these areas,” Gania said, adding that the operations could take up to three days.

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