BARMM chief Ebrahim: AFP clash in Lanao del Sur involved MILF forces

The firefight in Maguing, Lanao del Sur involved government troops and members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Bangsamoro region Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim said on Wednesday.

Ebrahim's remarks came after the Armed Forces of the Philippines said that the Army and the PNP were going after ISIS-inspired terrorists in the Maguing hinterlands.

The Army 1st Infantry Division's said that the military was targeting about 40 Daulah Islamiyah-Maute Group members in the operations.

The Western Mindanao Command also confirmed a "bomb run" in the area by an air asset in the Lanao area.

"Over the past 24 hours, our dear constituents in Maguing, Lanao del Sur have been troubled from military airstrikes and most recently, firefight incident that involved members of the military and forces of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front," Ebrahim said.

"As of this writing, the incident has claimed several lives and has forced some of our constituents to flee their homes and find shelter in nearby areas," he added.

The Wesmincom on Wednesday said the number of  suspected Daulah Islamiya terrorists killed had risen to three. It said one was killed on the government side.

In a statement, the military said the 51st Infantry Battalion (IB) and 55IB encountered more or less 40 suspected members of the Daulah Islamiyah-Maute Group under Abu Zacariah.

"We are now closely working with our partners from the municipal government of Maguing, security forces, and ministries are already on the ground to assist our internally displaced communities and assure that they get home safely as soon as possible," Ebrahim said.

Ebrahim said the Bangsamoro government was making sure that the ongoing ceasefire between the MILF and the AFP would "produce positive outcomes and provide permanent resolution to the conflict."

"We are optimistic that no further confrontations take place and we get to fully operationalize existing security mechanisms for the GPH and MILF," Ebrahim said.

He said these included proper coordination with the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group, International Monitoring Team, and the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities.

Ebrahim's statement comes nearly eight years to the day the national government and the MILF signed a comprehensive peace agreement aimed at ending the decades-long insurgency in Mindanao and serving as the basis for the draft of the Bangsamoro Basic Law, eventually known as the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL).  

The BARMM was created through the signing of the BOL in 2018 and its subsequent ratification by a plebiscite in 2019. —NB/BM, GMA News