BIFF rebels abandon occupied area in Kabacan town

From the Philippine News Agency (Oct 23): BIFF rebels abandon occupied area in Kabacan town

Intense pursuit operations have forced some 20 Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) rebels to withdraw from a village in Kabacan town in North Cotabato that they earlier occupied, a police official said. Supt. Leo Ajero, chief of the Kabacan PNP, said they started pursuing the armed lawless group led by a certain Commander Fox, around 8 a.m., on Monday. The operations ended around 2 p.m., also on that day, he said. Soldiers from the 7th Infantry Battalion of the Army, on board six military trucks, helped the police in pursuing the rebels up to the boundary of Barangays Cuyapon and Lower Paatan in Kabacan town, Ajero said.... Commander Fox, together with 20 of his men, attacked the residential area inhabited mostly by Cebuano and Ilonggo settlers, around 6 a.m., Monday. Fox claims his clan owns the lands, already titled lots, according to Ajero.... The attack launched by Commander Fox, according to Ajero, was not, in any way, connected to the signing of framework agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). “This is purely land conflict or land grabbing issue,” stressed Ajero.

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