2 soldiers, 3 Bravo men killed in Lanao firefight

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Two soldiers and three followers of wanted Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) leader Abdurahman Macapaar alias Commander Bravo were killed in fierce fighting in Lanao del Sur last Tuesday, the military said.

The military said five other men of Bravo, who carries a P10-million bounty, and a soldier were also wounded in the hostilities in Barangay Bansayan, Piagapo town that lasted for two hours.

1Lt. Steffani Cacho, spokesman of the Armed Forces’ Western Mindanao Command, said men of the Army’s 33rd Infantry Battalion under Lt. Col. Divino Pabayo encountered more than 30 armed followers of Macapaar at around 3:15 p.m. Tuesday.

Cacho said military pursuit operations showed that more rebels could have been killed in the clash.

He said Armed Forces chief Gen. Alexander Yano has directed military units in the South to hunt down lawless MILF groups “responsible for crimes against the people of Lanao del Norte, especially the group of Commander Bravo and (Ameen) Pangalian.”

Lt. Gen. Nelson Allaga, Western Mindanao Command chief, said government troops continued to close in to neutralize the groups of Macapaar and Pangalian at the boundary of the two Lanao provinces.

Allaga said these maneuvers would not affect the unilateral suspension of military operations, as these are directed against lawless elements.

Macapaar, Pangalian, and fellow MILF commander Ameril Ombra Kato are wanted for leading bloody attacks on civilian communities in Central Mindanao last August.

Kato also carries a P10-million bounty, and Pangalian, P5 million.