Tuesday, August 26, 2008 Army overruns MILF camp in Maasim
ARMY troops led by Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Ambal of the 73rd Infantry Battalion overran a military camp of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Maasim, Sarangani Sunday afternoon.
Reports from the Eastern Mindanao Command (EMC) showed that Ambal's team reached the camp around 4 p.m. of August 24.
More troops from the government have also started scouring the five-hectare MILF camp that was said to be the center of MILF resistance in Sarangani province.
As of this writing Monday, another MILF position located at a higher ground is being assaulted by the government troops.
EMC spokesman Major Armand Rico said the MILF rebels had withdrawn north and are now consolidating their forces at Camp Khalid, the base camp of the MILF's 107th Base Command at the vicinity of sitio Gansedan, Barangay Daliao in the same town.
The government troops have started inching their way to Camp Khalid and had started overrunning satellite posts of the said MILF camp that is said to be the biggest in the area.
Clearing operations are ongoing as of Monday.
Government troops have reportedly overrun 15 MILF following a series of fighting in some parts of Central Mindanao.
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief Alexander Yano on Monday said the resistance from the rebel group led by Ameril Umbra Kato, who has a P5 million reward for his arrest, has lessened.
Yano added that other camps and stations taken over by the military include Camp Vietnam, where Kato's operations officer Wahid Tondok was hiding.
The government forces have also engaged the group led by renegade Moro leader Abdullah Makapaar alias Commander Bravo in Lanao del Norte, Yano said. (BOT/With Sunnex)
