4 dead as Kato's group clashes with MILF in 'rido'

Four combatants were killed Thursday when Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) fighters clashed with the group led by its renegade commander in Maguindanao province. A Mindanao-based military official said the clash was caused by a “rido" (clan war) involving MILF members and members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), the group led by rogue MILF commander Ameril Umbra Kato. “It’s just a rido," said Col. Manuel Luis Ochotorena, deputy commander and concurrent spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division. “It just happened that those involved in the rido are members of the BIFF and MILF." Kato formed the BIFF late last year due to differences with the MILF leadership under Al Haj Murad. Arrest warrants have been issued against him by Philippine courts in connection with the attacks he led against civilian and military targets in 2008. “According to reports, two members of the MILF were killed and two members of the BIFF were also killed," Ochotorena said. A 19-year-old civilian identified as Norhana Aminola Unsi was injured in the clash that forced some 300 people to flee their homes in the nearby Penditin village in Datu Salibu. Last month, the two groups figured in sporadic skirmishes in Datu Piang town that lasted for several days, resulting in the deaths of at least 17 members of MILF and BIFF. Last week, Muslim religious leaders met with Kato and asked him to settle his differences with Murad in two weeks. MILF spokesman Von Al Haj said if Kato fails to reconcile with the MILF, he will no longer be covered by the standing ceasefire agreement between the MILF and the government and that he will be subjected to attacks by the military. — KBK/HS, GMA News