13 MILF commanders charged for soldiers’ deaths

BASILAN, Philippines—Police filed charges of multiple murder and multiple frustrated murder against 13 Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) commanders for the recent clash in Al Barka, Basilan, that left 19 soldiers dead.

Senior Supt. Generoso Bonifacio, head of the 9th Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit, said the charges were filed on November 4 before the Basilan Provincial prosecutor’s Office in Isabela City.

Among those charged is Dan Laksaw Asnawi, a sub-commander of the MILF 114th Base Command whose forces clashed with members of the Army 4th Scout Ranger Battalion on October 18.

The soldiers, of whom 19 were killed and 13 were injured, were said to be on a mission to arrest Asnawi for previous murder charges that stemmed from the beheading of 10 of 14 Marines killed, also in Al Barka, in 2007.

Charged alongside Asnawi for last month’s clash are Long Malat, Suhud Limaya alias Hud, Asul Musawarin alias Abubakar Muslimin, alias Rene/Musao, Abdulgappar Imambakal, Asdatul Sahiron alias Abu Nawas, alias Commander Faising, Sali Boni, alias Commander Idris, Commander Basir, Kolalon Polon, Munib Habibun, and 300 John and Peter Does.

“The incident was perpetrated by the aforesaid accused along with 300 other armed members who conspired with one another and with treachery and with the use of high powered firearms and superior strength,” Bonifacio said in his report.