AFP intel agents going after Misuari’s coddlers

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines– Military intelligence agents have been tracking down armed groups who could be providing sanctuary to fugitive Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) founder Nur Misuari in the hinterlands of Sulu, according to a senior military official.

The military has stood pat on reports that Misuari, who escaped after his followers’ bloody siege in this city last September, has not gone out of the country and was all the while hiding in the enclave of his so-called loyalists.

Rear Admiral Isabelo Gador, chief of the Naval Forces Western Mindanao, said intelligence operatives have been checking all leads to determine which group is coddling Misuari.

“We stick to the reports that he is still in Sulu. We will check with our intelligence units who are his coddlers,” Gador told journalists.

Gador, however, declined further comment, citing the sensitivity of the issue and the operation itself.

Misuari went into hiding after close to 500 MNLF rebels led by Habier Malik, who were sent to take siege of this city, were quelled by government forces after three weeks of standoff.

The siege left more than 200 people, mostly MNLF rebels, killed, and over 120,000 residents displaced.

Nearly 300 MNLF guerrillas were captured or gave themselves up. Along with Misuari, they are now facing charges of rebellion and violation of international humanitarian law, genocide and other crimes against humanity.

Meanwhile, the military yesterday activated a new elite anti-terrorism unit to address the shortcomings detected during the Zamboanga City crisis.

The Army’s Light Reaction Regiment is under the Special Operations Command and specializes on counterterrorism, urban warfare and close-quarter battles.

The regiment is an expansion of what used to be known as the Light Reaction Battalion, one of the units involved in the Zamboanga crisis. 

“During the Zamboanga siege, we were sort of unprepared to meet that kind of threat in an urban setting so we need a bigger unit to address this,” Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said.

 â€œWe did not lack training. We were prepared but we lacked personnel,” he added.         – With Alexis Romero