The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has formally lodged a protest against members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) for attacking Army soldiers, who were providing security for a United Nations Development Programme mission in Sumisip, Basilan last month.
Two soldiers died and 12 others were wounded in the clash, which happened more than a decade after the MILF signed a peace agreement with the government.
“We have peace mechanisms that are being followed. So, we have filed a protest against the MILF members who joined the ambush of our troops in Basilan,” AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. told reporters in an ambush interview at Camp Crame on Wednesday.
Both sides presented conflicting accounts regarding the coordination between their camps before the mission. Brawner stated that prior arrangements had been made, while the MILF denied any such agreements.
According to the AFP, an armed group allegedly led by Najal Buena and Oman Hajal Jalis was behind the attack with some MILF members supporting them.
The government and MILF, however, said they would enhance their ties despite the encounter.
Brawner also said negotiations are underway for the surrender the MILF fighters involved.
“Our negotiations with them continue,” Brawner said, when asked if the MILF is willing to surrender members involved in the clash.
The ambush incident occurred amid the ongoing normalization process in the Bangsamoro region and the decommissioning program for MILF’s former combatants.
Mohagher Iqbal, chairperson of the MILF Peace Implementing Panel, previously suggested that the clash could have been triggered by a lack of coordination between the two groups.