The Moro human rights group Kawagib released a statement that pinned the military for strafing at the evacuation center last Tuesday night that led to the killing of the girl named Asmayra Usman, and the wounding of her father Arsad Mujahed.
By ALEX D. LOPEZ
Davao Today
DAVAO CITY, Philippines — A four-year old girl was reportedly killed in a strafing incident in an evacuation center in the town of Datu Saudi Ampatuan in Maguindanao.
The Moro human rights group Kawagib released a statement that pinned the military for strafing at the evacuation center last Tuesday night that led to the killing of the girl named Asmayra Usman, and the wounding of her father Arsad Mujahed.
Bai Ali Indayla, Kawagib’s secretary-general, said the Usmans are one of the 400 families who left their homes in Iganagampong village in Datu Unsay town when “military offensives” escalated on August 6 in pursuit of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF). The Usmans and other villagers are seeking refuge in Mahad Murul Ittihad.
Indayla said they interviewed Arsad who recounted the incident happened around 11 pm at night on August 21, with his family already asleep when “bullets started hitting their (makeshift) tent.”
A stray bullet pierced through Arsad’s left foot and exited to the stomach of his daughter Asmayra. It instantly killed the child.
According to the military, in a news report over a Cotabato radio station, the BIFF, a faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, is responsible for the strafing incident. The police said an encounter with the rebel group occurred that night.
But Mairodz Usman, Arsad’s aunt, said in an interview by davaotoday.com that no encounter happened between the government troops and the BIFF that evening.
“Natutulog na kami nang bigla may narinig kaming maraming putukan mula sa kampo ng military sa bandang Bagan” (We’re already asleep when we suddenly heard gunshots from the military camp in Bagan),” Mairodz said.
“Wala pong encounter nanangyari, nagpaputok talaga ang military at pinuntirya kami dito sa evacuation center (No encounter took place, the military really aimed their gunshots at the evacuation center),” she said.
Other evacuees also said that soldiers who are encamped in the nearby Bagan village “strafed at the direction of the evacuation center.”
Bagan village is in Guindulungan town, three kilometers away from the location of the internally displaced persons.
The local police arrived after the strafing incident, Mairodz said, “But only to get statements from us.”
Asmayra is now buried while Asrad is still recuperating from his wound.
Kawagib plans to help the Usmans in filing cases against the military at the Commission on Human Rights as they urge government agencies to “conduct a thorough investigation and serve justice for the victims.”
Kawagib’s Indayla also denounced the continued military operations as it supports the evacuees’ call to pull-out the military troops from their community saying, these only result “to forcible displacement and civilians become victims of human rights violations.”
She also scored the military’s 1st Mechanized Brigade for its “blatant use of civilian residences and religious buildings as camps.”
Soldiers under this unit reportedly used a mosque in Bagan village as their detachment. They also allegedly occupied civilian houses, a mosque and a village health center in Iganagampong and Maitumaig villages in Datu Unsay town.
The military’s action, according to Kawagib, “endanger the lives of civilians and is a violation of the International Humanitarian Law which states that place of worship shall not be used or targeted in the armed conflict.”
“It saddens us that the strafing incident happened immediately after an interfaith activity was held at the evacuation center,” Indayla added.
A “DuyogRamadhan: Kanduli for a Just and Lasting Peace” was recently held here by Kawagib and Notre Dame Center for Catechesis, hoping for a respite to the military operations. (Alex D. Lopez, davaotoday.com)
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