MILF commander killed in clash with soldiers in Maguindanao
Mindanao Armed Conflict • 16:30 PM Mon Apr 18, 2022
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By:
John M. Unson
COTABATO CITY --- A commander of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front perished in a brief shootout with soldiers in Shariff Saidona Mustapha, Maguindanao Sunday.
The encounter between the group of the slain Ustadz Guiahudin Hadji Monib and personnel of the 33rd Infantry Batalion that resulted in his death is feared to spark a serious misunderstanding anew between the MILF and the military, supposedly bound by a ceasefire pact.
The 33rd IB is a component-unit of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division.
Monib, who belonged to the MILF’s 105th Base Command, was more known as Commander Toren.
Col. Jibin Bongcayao, Maguindanao provincial police director, said Monday the gunfight erupted when Monib and his followers opened fire on soldiers patrolling at Sitio Bankuang in Datu Kilay, Shariff Saidona Mustapha.
The MILF, whose central committee chairman, Hadji Ahod Ebrahim, is chief minister of the Bangsamoro region, has dispatched emissaries to Shariff Saidona Mustapha to diffuse the tension triggered by the incident.
The government and the MILF each has a ceasefire coordinating committee that works together in resolving security issues in conflict-flashpoint areas in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. (John Unson)