THE Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Tuesday accused that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) were the ones behind the attack on their base command in Basilan.
In a post on its website, the MILF said troops from the Army's 18th Infantry Battalion and 64th Infantry Batallion under "Col. Galvez" and Scout Rangers shelled the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces-MILF's 114th Base Command at Upper Cabengbeng in Sumisip, Basilan.
"We could not understand why the attack was irresponsibly conducted against our forces and the shelling not being stopped," MILF ceasefire committee chairman Abbas Salung said.
The forces of Hadji Hassan Asnawi were attacked by military troops, the MILF said.
But it was not immediately clear when the supposed assault occurred. The MILF's article was posted before noon Tuesday but referred to an attack at "4 p.m."
Salung, a native of Basilan, said he called for an immediate ceasefire but the Army troops were "recalcitrant."
He also said government forces "assaulted our troops and bombarded civilian communities," an act he said was an utter violation of the government-MILF ceasefire accord.
He also said that this was not the first time Galvez undermined the ceasefire accord and him to respect the ceasefire and the mechanisms on the ground.
The Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (MILF-CCCH) plans to file a protest on the supposed violations on the ceasefire agreement and on the indiscriminate mortar shelling, MILF secretariat head Rasid Ladiasan said.
“We hope that the attack was not meant to sabotage the peace process between the government and MILF,” Ladiasan said. (JK/Sunnex)