ZAMBOANGA CITY: At least four gunmen were killed in fierce clashes between two Muslim rebel factions, authorities said Thursday.
The fighting erupted in Maguindanao’s Datu Piang town between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and breakaway group Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement headed by Ameril Umra Kato.
It was unknown what triggered the fighting, but followers of both groups had previously fought over a piece of ancestral land in Maguindanao, one of five provinces under the Muslim autonomous region.
MILF spokesman Von Al Haq related Thursday that members of their 106th Command were attacked around 5:00 a.m. on Wednesday by Kato’s followers under Commander Uztads Ansa Indal in the village of Ganta, Datu Piang town.
Al Haq said the five-hour gun battle left four dead and five wounded from both sides.
“The fighting was sporadic. Our men did not fire first. They were ambushed by Kato’s men while crossing the village,” he said.
Kato, who is in his late 60s and leads a breakaway force of 200 to 300 fighters, headed MILF’s 105th Base Command. But he decided to break away from the MILF over disagreements on the handling of the peace process and for allegedly abandoning him in the aftermath of the 2008 violence that escalated after the government failed to sign the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain.
In December last year, he formalized his separation from the MILF and announced the formation of his group, BIFM, and called for jihad, or holy war, for a separate Muslim state.
At least five gunmen were also reported wounded from both sides. Kato’s group suffered two casualties and it was not immediately known if the renegade commander himself led the fighting.
The MILF has in the past tried to win back Kato’s loyalty, but he was disgruntled with the leadership of Murad Ebrahim, whom he accused of abandoning their struggle for an independent state in Mindanao and opted to negotiate with Manila for a Muslim sub-state in the mineral-rich, but strife-torn southern region.
Kato has said that his group would pursue an independent Islamic homeland and called on his tribe to oppose ongoing peace talks between the Aquino government and MILF, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group.
