2 MILF groups locked in bloody territorial disputes

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — The police and military have separately assured to help the Moro Islamic Liberation Front settle the recurring gunfights between its feuding members in Radjah Buayan, Maguindanao del Sur.

The newly-installed commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, Major Gen. Alex Rellira, said Saturday their units in Maguindanao del Sur have been directed to work with local executives in addressing the conflict that have displaced innocent villagers.

Rellira assumed as 6th ID commander only last Friday, replacing Lt. Gen. Roy Galido, now chief of the Western Mindanao Command based in Zamboanga City.

Capt. Joel Lebrilla, police chief of Radjah Buayan, told reporters the hostilities in Barangay Bakat and nearby areas involve members of the MILF’s 105th and 128th Base Commands.

He said the rival groups, armed with assault rifles, grenade launchers and anti-tank rockets, are squabbling for control of strategic patches of lands in Barangay Bakat.

The two groups first clashed early this week and have had sporadic gunfights since, one lasting for five hours, that forced villagers to evacuate to safer areas.

The MILF, whose figurehead, Ahod Ebrahim, is chief minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, had sent emissaries to leaders of the feuding groups to settle the conflict amicably.

Rellira said the 6th ID will help the MILF put a closure to the dispute between the two groups.

Catholic Station DXMS here had quoted in a report Radjah Buayan’s municipal police chief as saying that the rival groups are led by Ustadz Daya Mamo and a commander named Patrick Mamo, related to each other by blood.

The local police and the 6th ID announced Wednesday that a militiaman, Ibrahim Abas, was killed in the crossfire as the two groups fought the day before.

Officials of 6th ID and the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region said Abas, a member of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit, was guiding villagers away from the scene of the encounter when gunmen shot them with assault rifles, killing him instantly.

Police Brig. Gen. John Guyguyon, director of PRO-BAR, said Saturday provincial police officials are supporting the efforts of the Radjah Buayan local government unit, the Army and the MILF to reconcile the two groups to enable evacuees to return to their homes in the conflict-stricken areas.