COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 12 April) – Mohaimen Abo, younger brother of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s (MILF) vice chairman for political affairs, was killed in a police operation in the municipality of Sultan Kudarat in Maguindanao Tuesday afternoon.
Also known as Boy Bangsamoro, Abo, along with a certain Kumander Falcon, was facing charges of murder, robbery, frustrated murder, kidnapping for ransom and kidnapping with homicide.
He was younger brother of MILF vice chair Ghadzali Jaafar, who is also chairman of Bangsamoro Transition Council.
Senior Insp. Marcille Manzano, of the Information bureau of Police Regional Command-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (PRO-ARMM), said elite police troops from the national headquarters and the region swooped down Abo’s residential compound around 4:45 p.m. Tuesday to serve a warrant of arrest issued by Regional Trial Court-12.
“But there was resistance during the arrest, which forced the arresting officers to fire back,” Manzano told reporters about the law enforcement operation.
Police also arrested two persons associated with Abo who tried to reinforce him.
A caliber .45 pistol was seized by policemen from the possession of the slain Abo.
The MILF as an organization has yet to issue a statement regarding the police operation but Jaafar expressed dismay on the police action.
He said his younger brother was a bona fide member of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF) of the MILF.
“You know, if the government has pending case and would want to conduct law enforcement operation, there is a ceasefire mechanism that works for it, which government and MILF have agreed upon,” Jaafar said.
He is referring to the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG) and the Coordinating Committees on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH), which help ensure proper coordination and implementation of the ceasefire agreement between the government and the MILF.
Jaafar said there was no such coordination made by the police operatives.
He added that it saddens him that while the peace process is going smoothly, “there are obstacles to the peace efforts and it’s a problem.” (Ferdinandh Cabrera / MindaNews)