Renegade Moro rebels tried to over run Army base in Maguindanao

Edwin O. Fernandez, Philippines News Agency

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao - A renegade Moro rebel group is again making noise and tried to over run an Army base in Maguindanao, the military said Tuesday.

Colonel Edgar Gonzales, chief of the Army's Mechanized Infantry Brigade, said an undetermined number of Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement (BIFM), a breakaway group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, had surrounded an Army base in Datu Piang, Maguindanao on Monday night and opened fire on soldiers.

The Army managed to return fire and engaged the attackers in a brief firefight before fleeing.
Nobody was hurt in the 9 p.m. incident but it sent villagers living near the Army base to flee, Gonzales said.

Gonzales said the BIFM, through its military arm, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, wanted to disrupt the about to be completed peace process between the government and the MILF.

He said Army intelligence operatives are still determining the identities of the attackers for the filing of appropriate charges against them.

"What is certain is that they belonged to the BIFM according to civilians who personally knew them," Gonzales said.

The BIFM, led by foreign trained cleric Umra Ameril Kato, broke away from the MILF due to differences over issues regarding the peace process.

However, the MILF claimed Kato was expelled due to some violations against MILF policies.
He has long been wanted by law and last reports about him showed he was seriously ill due to old age and is now bedridden.

In August last year, the BIFM launched simultaneous attacks against Army and police detachments in Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat provinces in an effort to prevent the signing of the Framework Agreement on Bangsamoro.

The BIFM harassment left about a dozen government forces and 50 Moro rebels killed. It also sent some 50,000 civilians fleeing their homes.

Following Monday night's harassment, the Army has deployed armored personnel carriers near the Army camp in Maguindanao to thwart any similar attempt in the future.