By John Unson (The Philippine Star) June 24, 2013
PRESIDENT QUIRINO, Sultan Kudarat , Philippines – Followers of Moro rebel commander Ameril Ombra Kato killed a militiaman and a farmer and fired rockets on an Army detachment in separate attacks here in the past two days.
Local officials said soldiers and policemen are now hot on the trail of about 60 members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) led by a radical cleric, Ustadz Sukarno, who were responsible for the attacks.
Sukarno is a known henchman of Kato, who founded the BIFF in late 2011 after he was booted out of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front for insubordination and various offenses.
The spate of BIFF attacks started over the weekend with the fatal ambush of one Vicente Macaraeg, a member of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit, in Barangay Bagumbayan here.
Macaraeg was driving his motorcycle en route to the town proper from his detachment when BIFF members, armed with assault rifles and shoulder-fire grenades, blocked his path and opened fire, killing him on the spot.
The ambushers withdrew toward a nearby marsh after sensing that responding soldiers and policemen had started arriving at the scene.
The following day, BIFF members swooped down on another village and gunned down a farmer, Roy Viola, for refusing to shell out money and yield his farm animals.
After killing Viola, the BIFF members marched toward a nearby detachment of the Army’s 33rd Infantry Battalion, which they pounded with anti-tank rockets and machineguns.
Although outnumbered, the soldiers manning the outpost managed to return fire and prevented the rebels from closing in.
Local officials said three BIFF members were wounded in the ensuing firefight, which waned only after the soldiers fired mortars. The BIFF men retreated but took away the water buffaloes of farmers as they fled.
Col. Dickson Hermoso, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said villagers dislocated by the BIFF attacks have sought a counter-attack by 33rd IB, which has jurisdiction over President Quirino and adjoining towns.
“We are coordinating now with the joint ceasefire committee of the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to maximize our effort in addressing this group,” Hermoso said.
(Photo credit: This photo of Umbra Kato and his men was downloaded from www.sulekha.com.)
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