BREAKAWAY Moro guerrillas on Thursday night attacked three towns in Maguindanao in what the military believes is their revenge for the recent arrest of a Jema’ah Islamiyah-trained bomber.
Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) guerrillas simultaneously attacked military detachments in Datu Piang, Datu Unsay and Shariff Aguak in Maguindanao.
Soldiers and militiamen manning the detachments engaged the gunmen in gunbattles that lasted about five hours.
BIFF Spokesman Abu Misrie Mama claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Mama said the attacks were launched to make the government know of the presence of an armed group other than the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MIFF), from which the BIFF split. The government did not include the BIFF in the peace talks with the MILF.
No casualties were reported on the government side, while it was not immediately learned if the BIFF sustained casualties.
Meanwhile, Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr., Armed Forces chief of staff, flew to Sulu on Friday to personally lead the ongoing operations against the Abu Sayyaf in the province.
At the same time, Catapang met with local officials and residents of the province in an effort to convince them against supporting the bandit group, which is currently still holding 10 kidnap victims, including at least three foreigners.
During his meeting with local military commanders, Catapang was briefed on the progress of the all-out operations against the Abu Sayyaf, including the pursuit operations against the group that held and recently released two German captives after alleged payment of a P250-million ransom.
Government forces are hot on the trail of the small group of bandits that formerly held Germans Stefan Viktor Okonek and Henrike Dielen, and have, so far, seized at least three camps and encampments of the bandit group.
Catapang also directed military commanders deployed in Sulu to confer with local officials and work with them in identifying and addressing security issues and other community problems.
“We will help identify development projects and other social interventions that will address directly the problems,” he said.
While in Sulu, Catapang also held a dialogue with the residents, which was also attended by Vice Gov. Sakur Tan and 15 mayors.
Tan said he would support the move to organize a peace and economic summit that will be attended by different stakeholders, including civil-society organizations.
“We will do our part by working closely with different organizations. We also believe we can solve these problems by helping each other,” he said.
During the consultation, one resident raised the idea of the government’s going into a possible cease-fire with the government, which Catapang said could be studied.
“That is possible but they have to release all the hostages first,” Catapang said.
With Rene Acosta