MANILA. Armed Forces of the Philippines chief General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. earlier ordered the Western Mindanao Command to conduct an all-out offensive against the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters. (AP file photo)
Military operations against the separatist Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in Maguindanao have been suspended to give way to peaceful graduation rites for students.
The suspension of hostilities is from Monday, March 23, until March 29, said Myrna Jo Henry, media officer of the Autonomous Region of the Muslim Mindanao Humanitarian Emergency Action and Response Team (Armm-Heart).
Henry said soldiers and policemen were asked to secure the areas where the graduation ceremonies would be held starting this week.
She said most of the graduating students are staying in the evacuation centers where their families were transferred after the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) launched a campaign last month to crush the rebel group.
The all-out military offensive has already displaced 25,000 families or more than 120,000 people in the province, according to Armm-Heart.
The AFP is still pursuing small bands of BIFF members who have splintered into small groups to evade government soldiers.
"Law enforcement operations would be continuously conducted in areas that are believed to be the new hideouts of the BIFF. These areas are in the marshlands and also in the mountainous area away from the proposed sites for the graduation ceremony," said AFP chief General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. said.
The AFP will also continuously deploy forces in the former BIFF enclaves to deny terrorists like Abdul Basit Usman and Amin Baco entry of their former safe havens.
As of Sunday, the AFP has accounted 139 killed, 53 wounded and 12 arrested among the BIFF members.
Prior to the launching of the all-out military offensive, the BIFF has reached about 300 active members out of those who left the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) about five years ago.
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/breaking-news/2015/03/23/offensive-vs-biff-suspended-398969
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