The Philippines' largest Islamic rebel group - the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has officially expelled the renegade field commander behind a massive assault on civilians in the country's south in 2008, the group said.Ghadzali Jaafar, MILF's vice chair for political affairs, said Ameril Umra Kato, who formed his own splinter group called Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement (BIFM), is not covered anymore by its ceasefire agreement with the Philippine government.
"We don't care what his (Kato's) group will do. That's the implication of his move. We decided that he is no longer with us," said Jaafar.
| adding, "How do you like them apples, Kato, Kato, fat potato?" |
Kato, who leads a breakaway force of 200 to 300 fighters, decided to split from the MILF over the foiled implementation of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain in 2008. Last December, Kato formalized his separation from the MILF and announced the formation of the BIFM, calling for jihad to establish a Muslim state in the southern Philippines.