AFP counter-attacks to wrest Cotabato-Tacurong highway from Umbra Kato forces

Philippine Army units have launched counter-offensives to wrest control of the South Cotabato-Tacurong highway in Maguindanao from the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF). 

 

The highway transects western Mindanao and is the main highway connecting Tacurong and General Santos Cities. Occasional mortar shelling and sniper fire from the Ameril Umbra Kato-led BIFF makes the road dangerous for motorists

 

“Laban na ‘to, pwersa nila at pwersa natin sa armed forces” said 1st Mechanized Brigade commander Col. Mayoralgo dela Cruz in an interview with GMA News Online, “These [the counter-offensives] are deliberate actions to counter the harassments from these lawless elements.”

 

Dela Cruz added that only three barangays are directly caught in the fighting. However civilians have been forced to evacuate because of it.

 

“Ang ginawa nila (BIFF) pinalikas yung civilians, karamihan dyan kamag anak naman nila,” Dela Cruz said. 

 

The Datu Unsay portion of the highway has been the site of several encounters since Monday, Dela Cruz said.

 

Fighting began Sunday evening, when an estimated 400 to 500 members of the BIFF, a breakaway faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, launched simultaneous attacks against 10 military installations in Maguindanao province.

 

“They conducted simultaneous attacks on the brigade headquarters,” Dela Cruz explained, “Sabay-sabay nilang inattack.”  Malacañang last Monday condemned the attacks. “The attacks initiated by this lawless group during Ramadan only demonstrate their disrespect for this holy month of our Muslim faithful, and their disregard for innocent lives that can be displaced or lost during their irrational assaults,” Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Quintos Deles said in a statement read by Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda during a briefing.

 

Elements of the Army’s 601st infantry brigade of the 6th Infantry Division were also in the area during the attacks.

 

According to Dela Cruz, fatalities on the government side have been limited to the single soldier killed during the initial attack’s mortar shelling of the brigade headquarters.

 

However, two soldiers were wounded in that attack with two more hurt during the follow-up operations.

  

Furthermore, the BIFF cut down electric posts, leaving 11 municipalities without electric power.

 

The attacks occurred a day before the 30th Philippine Government-MILF exploratory meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

 

But the Armed Forces of the Philippines maintained that the attacks will not affect the peace negotiations, despite the fact that they are unsure how long the clearing operations will last. — DVM, GMA News