Nine soldiers and at least six members of the Bangsamoro
Islamic Freedom Fighters were wounded in an hours-long battle Friday in Datu
Saudi Ampatuan town as the military continued to press on its “all-out”
offensive against the rebels.
Captain Joanne Petinglay, spokesperson of the Army’s 6th
Infantry Division, said four alleged BIFF members were also arrested when
troops found another rebel camp in Datu Piang town Friday afternoon.
The offensive against the BIFF was ordered by Armed Forces
chief General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. on February 25, the 29th anniversary of
the 1986 EDSA People Power uprising and exactly a month after the January 25
Mamasapano incident, when 44 police Special Action Force commandos, 18 Moro
Islamic Liberation Front fighters and at least five civilians were killed in
clashes during an operation to get Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias
“Marwan,” who is also said to have died.
Marwan is said to have been hiding out in a village
controlled by the BIFF, right next to an MILF stronghold.
Just days before the offensive started, BIFF and MILF units
had begun clashing in parts of North Cotabato
and Maguindanao.
The hostilities have displaced more than 41,000 civilians
and prompted Maguindanao officials to declare the province in a state of
calamity.
Petinglay said Friday’s clash in Datu Saudi Ampatuan broke
out around 2 p.m. and raged on until midnight.
On the other hand, the alleged BIFF camp, on the boundary of
Barangays Dabunayan and Liab in Datu Piang, was found around 2:50 p.m.
Petinglay said soldiers captured suspected BIFF members
Aladin Panaydan, 22, Daud Balogat, 23, Ebrahim Oraw, 40, and Abdul Madalidaw,
33.
Seized from them were a .45 caliber pistol, a Thompson
sub-machine gun, bomb-making materials, mobile phones and documents.
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/106422/9-troops-6-biff-fighters-wounded-another-rebel-camp-found-in-all-out-offensive
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