The military said the violence began Saturday when followers of Pando Mudjasan, a former town vice mayor and leader of the MNLF, fired upon coppers as they prepared to serve him an arrest warrant for murder and illegal firearms and ammunition.
Police said Mudjasan’s armed followers housed inside a fortified compound opened fire on the police as they approached the village of Bualo Lipid in Maimbung town.
Maimbung is on Jolo island in Sulu province, for those interested in the geography of the thing.
One member of the police Special Action Force (SAF) unit and three followers of Mudjasan were killed in the fighting. Ten coppers and a soldier were also reported to have been maimed, while two civilians were hit by stray bullets, the police and military said.The violence has displaced about 5,000-6,000 civilians, Maj. Andrew Linao, front man for the military’s Western Mindanao Command (WestMinCom), said Monday. The civilians were sheltering in the Maimbung town gymnasium and being assisted by local officials.
"They fled because they are very afraid, and we are calling on everyone to calm down," Linao told news hounds. "But that is what usually happens when you have a firefight near a populated community."
Civilians near the conflict area were being advised not to return to their homes amid ongoing tensions in the area.
Brig. Gen. Eugenio Boquio, commander of the Army’s 1101st Brigade, said Mudjasan and his brother were maimed but were able to escape, according to intelligence reports. But Mudjasan and his followers have not beat feet from Sulu, an island province in the far southern Philippines, although it was unclear how many of their followers were still inside the compound, Linao said.
Linao said the area where the fighting was concentrated had been cordoned off, with troops and soldiers moving closer in.
"The operation of the SAF and police unit is ongoing to serve the warrant, capture and neutralize Pando [Mudjasan]," Linao said.
"Our effort is continuing now and our Army has set up checkpoints and blockades to prevent them from escaping."
Mudjasan’s group was composed of 20 to 30 individuals prior to the clash on Saturday. But the number of his fighters grew to around 50 individuals during the fighting, officials said.
Political warlords controlling their own private armies is a pervasive problem in the Philippines, especially in the southern Mindanao region where many of these officials were once members of bully boy groups who command their own forces.
The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) was once the country’s largest separatist force until it signed a peace deal with the government in 1996, although that agreement failed.
A splinter group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), would later sign a deal that would supersede the old peace pact and create an expanded Moslem autonomous region in Mindanao now controlled by MILF.
Some ex-MNLF fighters became elected local officials in Jolo, with their former rebel commands forming their own private armed security, officials said.
Military coordination and talks with the Sulu-based MNLF leadership were continuing to ensure that the law enforcement operation was aimed only at Mudjasan due to his criminal charges, officials said.
Mudjasan’s illegal activities were not sanctioned by the MNLF leadership, officials said. The runaway’s group was composed of "sympathizers and (Mudjasan’s) relatives from the MNLF," Brig. Gen. Boquio said.
Reports said police and military officers were about to serve an arrest warrant against former MNLF leader Pando Mudjasan when the suspect’s followers fired at the team, triggering a firefight. https://t.co/Hd7F4ZxSw3 pic.twitter.com/v17bH99wEK
— The Philippine Star (@PhilippineStar) June 26, 2023
6,000 Maimbung, Sulu evacuees returning home after shootout, says gov
[MSN] More than 6,000 residents of Maimbung, Sulu who were evacuated for their safety during a deadly shootout over the weekend are now being sent home, the governor said.
On Saturday former vice mayor Pando Mudjasan and his men exchanged fire with government forces who tried to serve a warrant of arrest on him. The encounter left one policeman and four people on Mudjasan's side dead.
According to Jun Veneracion's report on "24 Oras" on Monday, Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan said that some of the evacuees have started returning home.
Mudjasan, who is still on the lam, is suspected to be a leader of the Moro National Liberation Front
...the Turkic paramilitaries intended to replace with their native jihadi ferocity all the highly trained Turkish soldiers Sultan Erdogan I the much belovedhas jailed in the last few years for not worshipping the ground he walks upon. The Uighurs and so forth who did not join Al Nusra or ISIS seem to have ended up here...
(MNLF). He is wanted on murder charges and the government also has a warrant to search his premises for firearms and explosives. Authorities are now in pursuit of around 50 gunnies.