MILF files protest before Malaysian-led monitoring team

COTABATO CITY -- The Moro Islamic liberation Front  (MILF) filed a protest Saturday before the Malaysia-led International Monitoring Team (IMT) over the military’s alleged violation of the ceasefire agreement when they launched an aerial assault Friday on alleged meetings of suspected members of the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah in Sitio Panan, Barangay Nimao, Datu Piang, Maguindanao.

MILF spokesperson Eid Kabalu said in telephone interview Sunday said that there were no members of the Abu Sayyaf or Jemaah Islamiyah in the area but MILF members, one of whom was injured.

"We are not harboring terrorists. The area where military bombs landed is an MILF area," Kabalu explained.

"We have no exact figure but hundreds of families have been forced to evacuate to safer grounds because they were afraid of the bombings, considering their past war experiences," he said.

ARMM Social Welfare and Development Secretary Bainon Karon could not be reached for comment on how many families were displaced by the air strikes. Military officials said they told the MILF in advance of the aerial assault, but Midtimbang denied it.

Kabalu said there was a notice from the military but it reached them an hour after the military started bombing the area.

"We don't want the incident to escalate that's why we filed a complaint. It's now in the CCCH. They will investigate the issue," Kabalu said.

The aerial assault left at least 10 alleged members of JI and Abu Sayyaf dead, the military said. But only three of ten bodies of the fatalities were recovered, Maj. Gen. Raul Relano, the Army's 6th Infantry Division chief, said.

In a statement Saturday, Benjie Midtimbang, chair of the MILF’s Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH), said the government’s CCCH did not coordinate with them on the aerial strike.