BIFF spokesman Abu Misry Mama with followers. AFP FILE PHOTO
Aggregated information on the activities of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) since it came into existence in some parts of Central Mindanao is being readied by terrorism experts in the military and police with a view to having it formally declared a terrorist organization.
The BIFF, a faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), drew attention once again on January 25, when it joined the MILF in a withering 10-hour gunbattle with police Special Action Force (SAF) commandos tasked to apprehend international terrorist Marwan and Filipino bomb maker Abdul Basit Usman in
Barangay Tukanalipao, Mamasapano, Maguindanao.
The mission ended with the death of 44 SAF men, who ran out of ammunition and many of whom were believed "executed" by either MILF or BIFF members. The mission, though, was described by the police a success because most indications showed the commandos killed the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) leader Zulkifli Abdhir (alias Marwan), who is in the most wanted global list for a series of bombings, notably the 2002 Bali bombing that killed 200 people.
The US government had put up a $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest.
Usman escaped during the raid. According to authorities, he and Marwan were "peacefully co-existing" with the MILF and BIFF for many years now.
The BIFF is led by Ameril Umbra Kato, an expelled commander of the MILF's 105th Base Command.
Asked for confirmation about declaring the BIFF as a terrorist group, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesman Colonel Restituto Padilla simply said, "I cannot speak of something I am not authorized to speak of," Padilla said.
But he said it has been public knowledge that the BIFF was behind numerous bombings not only on government facilities but also public places where scores of innocent civilians were killed in parts of Maguindanao and North Cotabato.
At a recent Senate hearing on the Mamasapano debacle, police authorities had reported that besides his victims in other countries, Marwan is being blamed for the deaths of at least 46 Filipinos in a long career of terrorism. His cohort Usman, believed to be wounded by the SAF last Jan. 25 and hiding either in Maguindanao or Lanao, is blamed for at least 17 Filipino deaths.
BIFF spokesman Abu Misry Mama earlier denied they were coddling terrorists like Marwan and Usman. The MILF, through its chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal, also denied accusations of coddling terrorists.
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/105529/afp-pnp-moving-to-have-biff-officially-tagged-a-terrorist-group---sources
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