AFP files protest over MILF attack that killed 2 soldiers
AFP chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. —Photo from PAOAFP
MANILA, Philippines — The Armed Forces of the Philippines has filed a protest against Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) members who ambushed Army soldiers providing security to a United Nations Development Programme mission in Sumisip, Basilan, last month.
Two soldiers and 12 others were wounded in the attack, which happened more than a decade after the MILF signed a peace agreement with the government.
READ: In Basilan, 2 dead as MILF fighters ambush soldiers
“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 Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. told reporters in an ambush interview at Camp Crame on Wednesday.
Both sides offered conflicting accounts of coordination between their camps before the mission. Brawner had said there were prior arrangements while the MILF claimed there were none.
Article continues after this advertisementAccording 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. —Frances Mangosing
