The military here has placed its forces on heightened alert
and deployed more foot soldiers along Maguindanao's major highways after the
outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) stepped up its offensive
against government forces the past two days.
"We are pursuing them, we will not allow the group to
sow harm to our civilians and to our troops," Army Captain Joanne
Petinglay, chief of the 6th Infantry Division public affairs unit, said.
Three bombing attempts intended for Army roadside checkpoints
in portions of the Cotabato City-Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao highway were
carried out by the BIFF, the Army official said.
On Friday, the BIFF fired assault rifles and rifle grenades
toward an Army outpost in Mamasapano town, Maguindanao.
The Army retaliated, forcing the bandits to flee with six of
its wounded comrades.
On Saturday night, the BIFF again attempted but failed to
overrun the detachment of the 2nd Mechanized Infantry Battalion in Datu Saudi
Ampatuan town.
Petinglay said the bandits were forced to back off when the
Army retaliated, using caliber .50 machine guns.
On Sunday night, the bandits again launched an attack to
overrun the Army base in Datu Salibo, also in Maguindanao, but alert soldiers
fired at the bandits before they could fire the first shot.
However, the attackers managed to lob a rusty fragmentation
grenade that failed to go off.
Abu Misry Mama, spokesman of BIFF, admitted their fighters
were behind the atrocities, saying it was in retaliation for the Army's
offensives two weeks ago that flushed out BIFF in the borders of Pikit, North Cotabato and Datu Piang, Maguindanao.
Petinglay said military units in Maguindanao have imposed
tighter security measures to restrain the BIFF.
The 1st Mechanized Infantry brigade deployed more troops along
the highway backed by armored personnel carriers to ensure the safety of
commuters.
Earlier, the Army advised commuters to avoid the Maguindanao
highway at night to prevent getting caught in a crossfire in case firefights
erupt.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=716305
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