DATU ODIN SINSUAT, Maguindanao\u2014Soldiers in full battle gear and backed by armored vehicles have been deployed to highways in the province, including those that lead to the hideout of renegade Moro rebel leader Ameril Umra Kato, the military said Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Col. Prudencio Asto, spokesperson of the Army\u2019s 6th Infantry Division, said the deployment started on Monday.<\/p>\n
But Asto quickly added that the deployment in Datu Unsay, Datu Saudi, Shariff Aguak, Datu Hofer and Guindulungan towns\u2014which are near Kato\u2019s Camp Omar\u2014did not mean the military was planning to attack the former Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) leader.<\/p>\n
Kato has broken off from the MILF and now heads the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement (BIFM) and its armed wing, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).<\/p>\n
Some local leaders, who spoke on condition of anonymity, had said they believed the deployment came amid intelligence reports that suspected terrorist Basit Usman had joined Kato\u2019s group.<\/p>\n
Usman is being linked to the Jemaah Islamiyah and has been blamed for previous bomb attacks in several Mindanao areas.<\/p>\n
Last year, he was reported killed during a US drone strike in an al-Qaida base in Pakistan but Philippine military officials said the report has never been verified.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe soldiers along the highways are part of preventive measures employed by the military in the face of continuous threats of bombing, especially road side bombing,\u201d Asto said.<\/p>\n
Asto said the intelligence report about Usman hiding in Maguindanao, especially inside Kato\u2019s camp, has not been verified so far.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are still validating that report,\u201d Asto said.<\/p>\n
Kato told the Inquirer by phone that he did not even know Usman.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do not know him, he is not with us,\u201d he said in Filipino. Edwin Fernandez, Inquirer Mindanao<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Soldiers in full battle gear and backed by armored vehicles have been deployed to highways in the province, including those that lead to the hideout of renegade Moro rebel leader Ameril Umra Kato, the military said Wednesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,39],"tags":[1728,516,206081,453],"byline":[],"source":[206078],"column":[],"editor":[],"videographer":[],"position":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n