COTABATO CITY, Philippines – The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is sending a group to investigate the circumstances surrounding the January 22 ambush of Army soldiers deployed to secure a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) mission in Sumisip, Basilan.
The ambush, which the military said involved MILF members, resulted in the deaths of four people, including two soldiers, and left at least 12 others wounded.
The announcement came as over 100 families from the village of Cabengbeng in Sumisip town fled their homes and sought shelter at the town hall for fear of a possible escalation in fighting between the MILF and the Army’s 32nd Infantry Battalion following the ambush.
Ruayda Jingkata, Sumisip municipal social welfare and development officer, said some 135 families have evacuated to the town hall since Wednesday.
Bangsamoro Education Minister Mohagher Iqbal said a team led by Butch Malang, chairperson of the MILF Coordinating Committee for the Cessation of Hostilities, will leave for Basilan on Saturday, January 25, to investigate the ambush – the most serious breach of the historic peace agreement between the MILF and the government, signed on March 27, 2014.
“The MILF and the government have conflicting versions of what happened in Sumisip town, Basilan. The most important thing is that this incident does not escalate and become a spoiler to the gains of the peace agreement,” Iqbal, who chairs the MILF peace implementing panel, told journalists taking part in a study tour in Cotabato City.
Brigadier General Alvin Luzon, commander of the Army 1001st Brigade, said troops from the 32nd Infantry Battalion were out to secure a UNDP delegation when they were attacked by an armed group, including MILF members, in Cabengbeng. The armed group also burned a KM450 military truck used by the soldiers.
Luzon said the mission to protect the UNDP group was coordinated through the Joint Peace and Security Committee under the Joint Normalization Committee, composed of six MILF and government officials.
However, Hajj Hamad Atain, head of the MILF’s coordinating committee in Basilan, disputed the Army’s version of events. He said the UNDP party was in Barangay Upper Benembengan, about 12 kilometers away from Barangay Lower Cabengbeng, where the ambush occurred.
He also said the regular security detail for the UNDP mission was the Army Special Forces, not the 32nd Infantry Battalion, raising concerns about the coordination between the two.
“We have been regularly complaining about the lack of coordination from Army units when they enter our areas,” Atain said in a phone interview.
Under the peace agreement, the Army, police, and the MILF are supposed to coordinate their movements and operations through the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG) to prevent miscommunication and misencounters.
Atain said they did not receive any form of communication about the 32nd IB troops entering Lower Cabengbeng, which he noted is designated as an “area of temporary stay” – a zone agreed upon with the Armed Forces where the MILF can take refuge. – Rappler.com