Government
forces have fired mortar fire toward a band of Moro bandits in the borders of
two North Cotabato towns to thwart attempts to
disrupt communities, authorities said.
Mayor
Joselito Pinol of Mlang, North Cotabato said
government forces are taking one step ahead of the members of the Bangsamoro
Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) who, according to intelligence reports, have
been planning to take over portions of the North Cotabato-Maguindanao highway.
Pinol
said military authorities told him that government forces need to use artillery
to drive away an undetermined number of BIFF from its location in Sitio Pedtad,
Barangay Dungos, Tulunan town, near the border with Mlang, both in North Cotabato .
"There
were sightings of BIFF forces in Sitio Pedtad, the Army artillery fire was
surgical aimed at pushing the bandits back to the Liguasan marshland in
Maguindanao," Pinol said.
Capt.
Tony Bulao, speaking for the 602nd Army Brigade based in Carmen, North Cotabato , said the BIFF in Sitio Pedtad were the
same group who harassed the banana plantation in Barangay Dungos.
Pinol
said about 30 families have moved to safer grounds for fear of a larger armed
conflict.
He
said the Army action was aimed at preventing the armed men to conduct attacks
similar to Midsayap, North Cotabato where they
took hostage civilians and used them as human shields against pursuing
government forces.
He
appealed to Mlang residents to remain calm and report to authorities any
sightings of lawless elements in the respective barangays.
"We
do not like what happened in Zamboanga to happen here in our place," he
said.
The
BIFF, a breakaway faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, is operating
mainly in the Maguindanao marshland and repeatedly harassed Army positions in
the province and civilian communities in the borders of North Cotabato and
Maguindanao.
It
has been harassing the towns of Midsayap, Tulunan, Mlang, Aleosan, Pigcawayan,
Libungan, North Cotabato towns situated around the marshland.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=571535
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.