500 Muslim rebels occupy Philippine towns

The fighting, which began over the weekend, left at least two members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement (BIFM) and two civilians dead, and wounded an army commander, in the province of Maguindanao.

Some 500 rebels have split into several groups and were hold out in the town of Shariff Aguak, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Talayan and Datu Unsay; and in Midsayap in North Cotabato province, according to Col. Prudencio Asto, a spokesman for the 6th Infantry Division, in Maguindanao.

“We have deployed military forces to contain the areas where rebels have taken their positions,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.

Asto said the rebels also seized portion of a highway in Maguindanao. 

Abu Misry, a rebel spokesman, said the offensive was in retaliation to recent government attacks on their forces in Basilan province, an accusation strongly denied by the military.

“That’s absurd. The BIFM has no members in Basilan and the operation in the province is aimed at the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf which is being blamed for attacks on civilians and military (targets) in various towns in the area,” Asto said.

He said the fighting, which coincided with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in began before midnight Sunday after rebels attacked army detachments and civilian targets in the towns of Shariff Aguak, Datu Saudi Ampatuan and Guindulungan in Maguindanao.

Asto said the rebel attacks forced hundreds of villagers to flee their homes and sought refuge to safer areas for fear they would be caught in the cross-fire or held hostage by gunmen.

“These cowardly attacks were particularly disturbing as they were carried out during the holy month of Ramadan. Soldiers from 1st Mechanized Brigade have been deployed to stop the violence, protect the civilians and stabilize the area,” he said.

The BIFM is a breakaway group of the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which is currently negotiating peace with Manila.

The MILF has ordered its forces to stay inside their camps to prevent any clashes either with government forces or BIFM rebels. “MILF forces have been ordered to stay inside their camps and not to get involved in the fighting between government and BIFM rebels,” Von Al-Haq, a spokesman for the MILF, said in a separate interview.

Al-Haq said the MILF also ordered its forces not to allow BIFM rebels inside their territories in Maguindanao. “We will take drastic actions against BIFM rebels should they forced their way into our camps. We shall defend our territories against BIFM intrusions,” he said.

Al-Haq tagged Mohamad Alih Tambako, deputy commander of the BIFM, as behind the series of attacks in the province. But Presidential peace adviser Teresita Deles said Ustadz Carialan, a senior leader of BIFM chieftain Ameril Kato, has led the violence in Maguindanao, one of five provinces under the Muslim autonomous region.

She condemned the BIFM attacks and said this “only demonstrate their disrespect for this holy month of our Muslim faithful, and their disregard for innocent lives that can be displaced or lost during their irrational assaults.”

Kato – who has formed his own rebel group called Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and then later changed this to Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement – vowed to fight for an independent Muslim homeland. The 60-year old rebel leader has several times criticized MILF chieftain Murad Ebrahim for talking peace with the Aquino government which insisted on granting wider autonomy to some four million Muslims in Mindanao.

He accused Ebrahim of abandoning their original demand for an independent state and opted instead to negotiate with Manila for a Muslim sub-state in the mineral-rich, but strife-torn southern region.

Kato is facing a string of criminal charges in connection to the series of attacks that he led after the failed signing of the Muslim homeland deal in 2008 between the MILF and the government. The Supreme Court declared the accord as unconstitutional and the aborted deal triggered a series of deadly attacks by Kato’s forces in Mindanao. 

The latest attacks came ahead of scheduled peace talks this week between Manila and the MILF in Malaysia, which is brokering the negotiations. Both the government and the rebel group said the hostilities will not affect the peace talks. (With a report from Mark Navales)