Families displaced by Abu Sayyaf-military clash fear return to villages

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - The 264 Yakan families displaced by the deadly encounters between soldiers and Abu Sayyaf gunmen in Tipo-Tipo, Basilan are reluctant to return to their villages fearing the bandits will return after security forces resettle to their camps.

Tension in the affected villages in Tipo-Tipo has started to wane, but soldiers deployed in the surroundings remained on full alert, anticipating possible retaliations by the Abu Sayyaf for its heavy losses in last week's skirmishes in two barangays in Tipo-Tipo.

The Humanitarian Emergency and Action Response Team (HEART) of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) dispatched a 10-member relief group Tuesday to assess the extent of the dislocation of villagers in the conflict-affected areas and to distribute food packs to the evacuees.

The evacuees are now confined in makeshift evacuation sites and houses of relatives in nearby barangays, according to reports reaching HEART’s operation center here.

The relief team is comprised of volunteers from the ARMM’s social welfare and health departments, and employees of the Office of the Regional Governor here.

ARMM Regional Executive Secretary Laisa Alamia, who is helping Gov. Mujiv Hataman oversee the HEART’s relief operations, said local religious and community leaders have been enlisted to help defuse the tension in the adjoining Barangays Baguindan and Silangkom, scenes of the Abu Sayyaf-Army encounters early this week.

More than a dozen Abu Sayyaf bandits were killed in the encounters, which also exacted casualties on the side of the military.