Military ends probe on Maimbung incident

ZAMBOANGA CITY – The military completed its investigation on the Maimbung town incident which left eight civilians dead during an operation, according to military officials.

At least two members of the elite military troops under the Light Reaction Company (LRC) and the navy’s Special Warfare Group (SWAG) were also killed while five others were wounded in the Feb. 4 operation at Barangay Ipil.

The incident had greatly blamed the military of gross human violation after investigation of various civil society groups and even the Commission on Human Rights pointed the military as responsible for the incident.

Findings of the investigation conducted by the Western Mindanao Command (West­mincom) Inspector General corroborated some facts of the CHR that the victims were caught in the crossfire.

However, the volley of fires that hit the civilians remains a very big question with findings pointing evidences that groups of armed men were also positioned in the adjacent mangrove area, according to Westmincom chief Lt. Nelson Allaga in his initial review of the complete result of the military investigation.

Allaga said the troops have clearly recognized the civilian position during the pre-dawn military operation.

“The troops were only about five meters or shoulder tapping distance when four civilians shouted they were civilians and the troops did not fire. That means the civilians were heard by the operating troops,” Allaga said.

Allaga hinted that if the troops, considering the close distance, have fired at the 17 occupants in the clusters of houses would have been killed.

The military findings also showed that the houses bore no bullet holes from the operating troops’ firing direction but the hails of bullets came from the mangrove where the gunmen were believed to have positioned.