Ameril Umbra Kato (18 May 1946 – 14 April 2015) was the founder of the

Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters The Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), also known as the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement, is an Islamist militant organization based in Mindanao, the Philippines. It is a smaller player in the overall Moro insurgency in the Phili ...

(BIFF), a group which seceded from the

Moro Islamic Liberation Front The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF; ar, ''Jabhat Taḥrīr Moro al-ʾIslāmiyyah'') is a group based in Mindanao seeking an autonomous region of the Moro people from the central government. The group has a presence in the Bangsamoro r ...

(MILF). He joined the MILF in or around 1985, after he graduated from

Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU) (), commonly known as Al-Imam University, is a public university in Baladiyah al-Shemal in northern Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It was founded in 1953. represented by the College of Sharia Sciences (n ...

Riyadh Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of th ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

. Umbra Kato was the Philippines' most wanted man, though due to his membership in MILF he was not hunted by the military. A warrant of arrest was filed against him alongside other BIFF members by the Philippine National Police. The

Armed Forces of the Philippines The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) ( fil, Sandatahang Lakas ng Pilipinas) are the military forces of the Philippines. It consists of three main service branches; the Army, the Air Force, and the Navy (including the Marine Corps). The ...

, with the MILF, launched

Operation Darkhorse Operation Darkhorse (Filipino: ''Oplan Darkhorse'') was an offensive against the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) launched by the Armed Forces of the Philippines on January 27, 2014. Background The fighting broke just as the normaliz ...

in a bid to arrest him in January 2014. Kato reportedly died on 14 April 2015 of a heart attack. BIFF spokesperson Abu Misry Mama confirmed his death after he was informed by Kato's son that he died at 2:00 am due to complications from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

. He was reported to have died in Barangay Kateman in

Guindulungan Guindulungan, officially the Municipality of Guindulungan ( Maguindanaon: ''Ingud nu Guindulungan''; Iranun: ''Inged a Guindulungan''; tl, Bayan ng Guindulungan), is a municipality in the province of Maguindanao del Sur, Philippines. According ...

, Maguindanao, but this was denied by the barangay chairman.

References

External links

Profile of Umbra Kato

abs-cbn: MILF: Umbra Kato’s group not acceptable, February 16, 2011 (retrieved May 7, 2011)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kato, Ameril Umbra 1946 births 2015 deaths Filipino Muslims Filipino Islamists People from Maguindanao Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University alumni Deaths from pneumonia in the Philippines