About
500 families here who fled their homes when Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters
(BIFF) harassed several villages of Midsayap, North
Cotabato Thursday, have started returning home, officials on
Friday said.
Relief
distribution by the local government unit is underway as the displaced families
slowly returning home.
Superintendent
Reynante delos Santos
Midsayap
Mayor Romeo Arania has ordered relief distribution to some 300 families from
Barangay Polomogen now temporarily housed in Barangay Bual Norte, also in
Midsayap.
Other
displaced families from two sub-villages, about 225, are now housed in Barangay
Malingao center.
About
50 BIFF men first harassed Barangay Baliki, near the border of Midsayap and
Datu Piang, but alert soldiers and infantry men repulsed the attackers who fled
toward Barangay Polomogen en route to northern Kabuntalan area in Maguindanao.
Delos
Santos said an improvised explosive device, made of 81 mm mortar with cellphone
as mobile phone as trigger mechanism, was recovered by Army bomb experts.
“The
bombs were for pursuing soldiers,” Delos Santos said.
Midsayap
has returned to normalcy but police and military forces remained on alert.
“We
have reports BIFF will carry out diversionary tactics like setting off bombs in
the town center, so we are on alert,” he said, adding that some BIFF are
already in town with explosives.
Colonel
Dickson Hermoso, speaking for the 6th Infantry Division, said the recent
harassment by the BIFF has bearing with the submission of the draft Bangsamoro
Basic Law to Philippine Congress.
After
clearing operations, 10 BIFF guerrillas and two soldiers were killed while more
than a dozen other bandits were hurt and carried away by retreating gunmen.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=683343
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