(CNN Philippines) — Both the Special Action Force (SAF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) violated a ceasefire when they engaged in a firefight in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, on January 25.
The International Monitoring Team (IMT), a 60-member international group of Malaysian-led observers, made this conclusion in a report it submitted to the Philippine government.
The report says the SAF failed to coordinate with the Armed Forces of the Philippines and other police units and ignored ceasefire mechanisms.
This means that the Philippine government violated a provision in the 1997 implementing operational guidelines on its ceasefire agreement with the MILF, Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, chief government negotiator, said in a news conference on Monday (April 6).
Earlier, Director Getulio Napeñas, who was sacked as SAF commander, said the Mamasapano operation was kep secret to avoid any leak in the information.
The objective of the operation was the arrest of Malaysian terrorist bomb maker Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, and his Filipino associate, Abudl Basit Usman.
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The battle ended with 44 police commandos, 17 rebels, and four civilians dead. It also threatened the peace process with the MILF when lawmakers suspended work on the draft of the Bangsamoro Basic Law, which would create region to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
The IMT reports adds that SAF members violated the ceasefire when they shot and killed two MILF fighters on the morning of the operation. This led to a firefight between the SAF and the MILF forces.
The IMT agrees that, in the first encounter, the Moro troops only responded to police commandos’ attack.
At the same, it says the MILF violated the ceasfire when it entered cornfields in the area and attacked another SAF unit.
The IMT finds no evidence, however, that the MILF provided sanctuary to Marwan and Usman, though it believes some MILF members knew where the two were hiding.
As for the viral video showing some SAF commandos being executed, the IMT says there’s not enough evidence that MILF fighters are the ones who did it.
The IMT also says one SAF commando violated the ceasefire when he killed four sleeping MILF fighters during his escape.
The IMT calls on the government peace panel to create conflict prevention mechanisms to avoid future clashes between government and MILF forces.
The IMT says the MILF should strengthen command and control of its fighters and improve its intelligence gathering.
