Members of a breakaway faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), led by Ameril Umbra Kato, used chainsaws to launch simultaneous attacks across 11 towns in Maguindanao province yesterday, leaving at least three dead, officials said.
A civilian died in a crossfire, while the Army said the bodies of two Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) had been recovered hours after the attacks, police and the military said.
The rebels used chainsaws to bring down electricity pylons before dawn, plunging several towns into darkness, and then opened fire on Army detachments, they added.
“Sporadic heavy fighting continued in the morning, but we have set up roadblocks while the military went after the rebels,” Maguindanao police director Senior Supt. Marcelo Pintac said.
He added that as well as cutting off electricity, the rebels were also believed to have planted improvised bombs along Cotabato-Tacurong Highway that runs through the strife-torn province of Maguindanao, where the fighting erupted.
Col. Mayoralgo de la Cruz, 1st Mechanized Brigade commander, for his part, said the attacks started around 11:30 p.m. that sparked sporadic clashes between the government troops and the BIFF fighters.
As of press time, De la Cruz said government forces were still combing the highway to clear it from the BIFF.
“They (BIFF) really planned to challenge us…it (fighting) is still continuing,” he added.
De la Cruz is not discounting the possibility that the attacks were meant to derail the ongoing peace negotiations between the government and the MILF. “Maybe they (BIFF) want attention,” he said.
Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu said “hundreds” of villagers were believed to have fled their homes as government forces repelled the rebels with helicopter gunships.
“They sabotaged power lines and attacked 11 towns. We are now largely in control except for a section of the highway that remains closed,” he added.
“We are trying to reach out to them so we can have a truce, but in the meantime, commuters are advised to stay put and avoid traveling to the area.”
The government’s chief presidential adviser on the peace process, Teresita Deles, said the attack was apparently meant to derail negotiations with the larger, more mainstream MILF, which has dropped its bid for full independence and is negotiating for an autonomous region.
The government has said it hopes to sign a peace deal with the MILF by the end of the year, but has asked the MILF leadership to help contain Umbra Kato’s forces. BIFF opposes peace talks with the government.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) leadership maintained that the attacks will not affect the ongoing peace negotiations between the MILF and the government.
AFP spokesman Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr. said: “ “It is our hope that the incident will subside and further armed skirmishes be prevented for the betterment of the people of Maguindanao and the whole country,” he added.
Abu Misri, a spokesman for Umbra Kato, however, told Agence France Presse by phone that the attack was launched to avenge the alleged unprovoked killing of a BIFF member by troops in June.  Mario J. Mallari, Fernan J. Angeles and AFP