Bayan: US soldier killed in Mamasapano ops; calls for re-opening of probe

MANILA, Philippines - Militant group Bayan on Tuesday called on the Senate to re-open the investigation into the Mamasapano incident wherein 44 Special Action Force (SAF) troopers were killed.

 

The group made the call after recent videos circulated showing what appears to be dead Caucasian, believed to be an American soldier.  

 

"The Senate should reopen its probe on the Mamasapano incident and uncover the real role of the United States in the botched operation," Bayan Secretary General Renato Reyes Jr. said in a statement. 

 

He said the surfacing of the videos bolstered earlier assertions that the US had a direct hand to get international terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir or Marwan.

 

It could be remembered that Suara Bangsamoro and the independent fact finding mission first raised the possibility that a US soldier was among those killed in Mamasapano, based on testimonies gathered from witnesses.

 

"That a US soldier was among the dead indicates that the US was deeply involved in actual combat operations and may have been directing movements on the ground. The dead US soldier was embedded in a unit of a SAF. This combat role for the US violates anew the Philippine Constitution," Reyes said. 

 

The Philippine National Police Board of Inquiry (BOI) had earlier stated that six US servicemen were present at the tactical command post of the SAF. 

 

"This is an indication that the US was directing the entire operation as it had exclusive control of real-time information on the movements of the SAF and other armed groups in the area. The BOI also reported that one American even ordered a Filipino general to fire artillery at the suspected MILF forces that had surrounded the SAF," he said. 

 

He said that there will only be closure in the Mamasapano incident if those involved in the operation, including the US military, are held liable for the deaths of the SAF police commandos.