Wanted MILF member killed in Maguindanao

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines  – Some officials of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) long knew about the warrant for the arrest of a commander named Yusoph Kusain, but none turned him in until he was killed Monday by policemen in Datu Paglas town in the province, local executives and intelligence sources said.

Kusain was implicated in deadly bombings in Central Mindanao in recent years. He was gunned down by operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group at the border of Barangays Madidis and Damawato in Datu Paglas when he fired at the CIDG men as they tried to arrest him.

Von Al-Haq, spokesman of the MILF, announced on Thursday that they are to file a formal protest on the operation that resulted in Kusain's death, as serious violation of the 1997 Agreement on General Cessation of Hostilities with government.

Al-Haq said the operation was initiated without prior coordination with the MILF ceasefire committee.

The MILF and the government are supposed to cooperate in the interdiction of criminals and terrorists in flashpoint areas in the south as stated in the 1997 ceasefire accord. The MILF ceasefire committee, however, never acted on the warrant for the arrest of Kusain a local court had issued in connection with his alleged involvement in bombings.

Kusain, according to Al-Haq, was a legitimate member of the MILF and was covered by the anti-crime and peace-keeping protocols stipulated in the ceasefire agreement.

Al-Haq also refuted assertions by the police and military that Kusain was a foreign-trained bomb expert.

“He was not a criminal,” Al-Haq said, referring to Kusain, an ethnic Maguindanaon, who was also known as “Commander TMX” in the MILF.

Community leaders in Barangays Damawato and Madidis told reporters Kusain was killed along a busy stretch of a highway connecting Maguindanao and Tulunan town in North Cotabato in a shootout which he started.

“He shot the policemen with a rifle as they approached,” said a barangay official, who asked not to be identified.

Two policemen were wounded in the ensuing firefight. One of them reportedly died later at a hospital.

Officials of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division said Kusain was killed not inside an MILF enclave protected by the ceasefire accord.