Philippines: 14 killed and 200 displaced in clashes between rebel factions

Fourteen people were killed and 200 families displaced due to clashes between a mainstream Filipino-Muslim rebel group and a renegade faction in the southern Philippines, a radio report said. The displaced families have been temporarily housed at Gumbay Elementary School in Buayan village, Datu Piang town, since the start of the clashes on Sunday, said Colonel Prudencio Asto, public affairs officer of the Philippines Army's regional command. Earlier, six were reported killed due to clashes in Datu Piang, Maguindanao province, between factions loyal to Adzme Kasim, a commander of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front's (MILF) 106th base command, and a former MILF commander, Abunawas Ebad, who now belongs to the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), an MILF faction. Commander Umbra Kato, who left the MILF early this year, is BIFF's head. Internal bickering MILF's Kasim and BIFF's Ebad have been fighting over control of villages in a piece of fertile land located between a river and a marshland since Sunday. Ebad's men attacked a village controlled by Kasim on Sunday and also attacked another village held by Kasim on Tuesday. The Ebad faction occupied the village hall and a mosque in these villages and the two parties, armed with guns and mortars, have not stopped fighting since then. These clashes will not affect the ongoing peace process between the Philippine government and the MILF, said MILF spokesman Von Al Haq. However, observers said the presence of an MILF renegade group has put in question MILF's ability to stop armed struggle in the south. Since 1978, the MILF has been waging an armed struggle for the establishment of an independent Islamic state in the south. The MILF gave up its secessionist stance when it responded to the pro-autonomy peace initiative of the government in 1997.