MILF rogue commander attacks in NCotabato

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - Two members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in North Cotabato were wounded when a rival group led by a rogue commander of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) attacked them noontime Wednesday, triggering a 30-minute firefight.

The hostilities at Barangay Kayaga in Kabacan, North Cotabato erupted when an MILF commander named Maguinda Simbangan and his followers surrounded a village where MNLF members reside and opened fire with rifles and grenades.

The police director of North Cotabato, Senior Supt. Danilo Peralta, said Simbangan and his men targeted an MNLF leader in the area,  Eddie Buisan, also known as Commander Iranun Mansa.

Peralta said the two groups are squabbling over control of strategic patches of land at the border of Barangays Kayaga and Bulit in nearby Montawal town in Maguindanao.

The conflict sent dozens of villagers running for their lives.

Peralta said Simbangan belongs to the MILF’s 108th Base Command.

Two MNLF members who were wounded in the encounter, Nari Kamsa and Meno Maganaka, were rushed by responding barangay officials and policemen to the Kabacan Polymedic Cooperative Hospital.

The military and police in Kabacan and Montawal were forced to close to traffic for almost two hours on a stretch of the Cotabato-Davao Highway traversing the areas where the two groups fought to prevent commuters and motorists from getting trapped in the crossfire.

Peralta said the hostilities waned only when members of the government-MILF ceasefire committee arrived to pacify the feuding factions.

The Army’s 602nd Brigade, which has jurisdiction over Kabacan and Montawal towns, has asked the ceasefire committee to investigate on the  incident and initiate efforts to reconcile the two groups.