The chief of the 1st Infantry Division based in Pulucan, Zamboanga del Sur province announced on Tuesday the redeployment of the elite 104th Brigade from Lanao del Sur province to Basilan.
Major General Noel Coballes said the brigade would join Special Operations Task Force Basilan that earlier had been reinforced with a 91-strong Special Forces contingent and about 100 Army personnel.
Army commander Lieutenant General Arturo Ortiz said he has directed Army troops in Basilan to seek justice for the 19 Special Forces and other victims through continuous pursuit and intelligence operations to locate and neutralize all lawless elements and the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG).
Meanwhile, MILF spokesperson Von Al Haq said its forces in Basilan were aware of military plans to undertake an offensive and that the fighters had been ordered to take up defensive positions.
However he added that the MILF had not been informed of the operations to be conducted by the AFP in Basilan under the campaign for “all-out justice” ordered by President Aquino on October 24 for the massacred soldiers.
For its part, Malacañang through deputy spokesperson Abigail Valte said that the military is not against the MILF as an entity but against lawless elements.
She added that the MILF must either cooperate or stand aside and let the government soldiers do their jobs.
