2 BIFF killed, 4 nabbed in Maguindanao clash
CLASHES. Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) guard a clandestine press conference at Camp Omar in Datu Unsay town, Maguindanao. File photo by Ted Aljibe/AFP
DAVAO CITY, Philippines – A day after Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) simultaneously attacked military and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) installations in Maguindanao, government forces killed two of its members and apprehended 4 others in an encounter.
Colonel Dickson Hermoso, spokesperson of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said soldiers encountered the rebels in Barangay Libutan, Mamasapano at around 5:40 am on Tuesday, June 10.
A heavy firefight ensued and lasted until 7:30 am, Hermoso said.
Government troops recovered from the BIFF one homemade 50 caliber sniper rifle, a 60-mm mortar tube with base plate and bipod, several explosives and a van.
The troops were in pursuit of those responsible for the June 6 roadside bombing in Barangay Maitumaig, Datu Unsay that killed a soldier and injured 3 others.
Hermoso also said the rebels, a breakaway faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), attacked the company command post of the 61st Division Recon Company in the village of Ganta, Shariff Saydona Mustapha at around 8 pm on Sunday.
A firefight ensued and lasted for an hour, and left a senior BIFF commander seriously wounded and an enlisted personnel hurt, he said.
The military official said that 5 minutes past midnight, another group of rebels harassed a community security base of the Moro National Liberation Front in Barangay Damabalas in Datu Piang.
"The MNLF members retaliated against the BIFF harassment," Hermoso said.
Hermoso added that a civilian identified as Bai Saida Lakim was hit by a stray bullet.
The military claimed that 3 rebels were killed in the series of clashes.
BIFF spokesman Abu Misry Mama, however, denied the claims and said his group suffered 3 injuries including the rebel group's 7th Infantry Division's chief known as Commander OV-10.
"He is seriously wounded but he is stable. We will not hide our casualties if our freedom fighters are killed," Mama said.
Mama also denied that they attacked a detachment of the MNLF, explaining that only military forces and installations are considered as legitimate targets of their operations.
The BIFF, led by former 105th Base Commander Ustadz Ameril Umbra Kato, splintered from the MILF over serious disagreements on the conduct of peace negotiations with the government.
The rebel group is waging an armed struggle for an independent Islamic state.
The military launched an offensive against the group in January to remove any threat it might pose to the peace deal between the Philippine government and the MILF, which was sealed in March. – Rappler.com
