BIFF links to foreign terrorists only ‘speculation’ – military

From GMA News (Feb 4): BIFF links to foreign terrorists only ‘speculation’ – military

The military has dismissed the alleged links of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) to local and international terrorist groups, saying it is purely “speculation.”

“Wala naman, haka-haka lang 'yan,” said Col. Dickson Hermoso, spokesman of the 6th Infantry Division, when asked to confirm on the reported links between the BIFF and the Jemaah Islamiyah and Abu Sayyaf.

He was reacting to reports that two alleged foreign bomb-making experts, identified as Mauwiah and Maarwan, were among those who escaped when the military took over several BIFF training camps following a week-long operation in Central Mindanao.

A report on GMA News TV's “State of the Nation” Monday night said Mauwiah and Maarwan have been identified as founders of Khalifa Islamiyah, the group implicated in bombing attacks in Maguindanao and Cotabato City last year.

The report, citing sources, also said among those recovered from one of the seized camps was a black flag that was supposedly used by a mujahideen in Syria and Yemen.

But Hermoso said that flag, as well as the other flags recovered from the camps, does not prove that the BIFF, a splinter group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) that is against the peace talks, has links with international terrorist organizations.

“May mga bandera dun pero wala namang significance 'yun,” he said.

Aside from flags, government troops also recovered bomb-making components, instructional materials, and other foreign documents in the seized enemy camps.

With the military operations, which started late last month, the government has “degraded” the capabilities of the BIFF to launch attacks, Hermoso said.

“Na-degrade namin [sila] dahil maraming na-neutralize sa kanila,” he said. “Ngayon nag-lie low 'yung karamihan.”

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/346940/news/regions/biff-links-to-foreign-terrorists-only-speculation-military