Government forces are hunting down a band of outlawed
Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) who attacked an Army base in the
borders of Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat provinces at 1 a.m. Saturday.
The attack left one soldier killed, three others wounded,
according to Capt. Joanne Petinglay, speaking for the 6th Infantry “Kampilan”
Division based in Camp
Siongco
Petinglay said members of the BIFF surrounded the detachments
of the Army’s 33rd Infantry Battalion in Barangay Kulasi in Gen. S.K. Pendatun
town in Maguindanao and in Barangay Katiku in Sultan Kudarat’s President
Quirino then opened fire with assault rifles.
The bandits, which Petinglay described as “potent spoilers
of peace,” also fired rifle grenades at surprised soldiers who immediately
traded shots with the attackers for about 30 minutes.
Although outnumbered, the soldiers returned fire, preventing
the bandits from crossing through the perimeter fences until they suffered
casualties and retreated.
The identities of the slain soldier and the wounded were not
made public until their next of kin are duly informed.
Village officials told the Army that blood stain were
visible in the site where the BIFF launched attacks, an indication they too
suffered injured fighters.
Petinglay could not say whether the attackers also suffered
death as no body was recovered from the crime site.
Elements of the 33rd IB backed by armoured personnel carrier
are still pursuing the bandits who fled toward the Liguasan marshland.
Members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) helped
the Army in tracking down the bandits.
The BIFF, composed of about 1,000 armed men, broke away from
the mainstream revolutionary group – the MILF and vowed to continue fighting
for independence.
Civilians who fled their homes have started to return to
their villages after the Army cleared the adjoining villages from explosives
that might have been left by fleeing bandits.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=721415
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