At least five members of the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic
Freedom Fighters (BIFF) were confirmed injured in a clash with government
forces in Datu Salibo, Maguindanao, the military said Friday.
An undetermined number of BIFF gunmen tried to overrun the
Sopad Detachment of 24th Mechanized Company of 2nd Mechanized Infantry
Battalion in Barangay Sambolawan by firing assault rifles, rifle grenades and
grenades at 11 p.m.
The attacks triggered a four-hour firefight, ending at about
3 a.m. Five areas near the military detachments had blood stains, an indication
the hostilities left BIFF fighters injured.
The morning after, residents and soldiers witnessed the
remnants of fierce armed hostilities as showed by concrete walls riddled with
bullet holes, coconut trees with marks of bullet hits, road blocks filled with
holes and metal roofing of the detachment with traces of rifle grenade
explosions.
Lt. Colonel Warlito Limet, 2nd Mechanize Battalion
commander, said soldiers recovered hundreds of empty shells for cal. 45 pistol,
M-16 Armalite rifle and Barret rifle.
An abandoned mosque near the detachment was not spared as it
bore bullet holes.
"It was a well planned attack but soldiers' alertness
and firepower foiled the attempt," Limet told reporters. He said on Tuesday
night, the BIFF also harassed the same detachment located along the Datu Saudi
Ampatuan-Datu Piang highway, both in Maguindanao.
The road is regularly frequented by commuters, even at
night. No civilian casualty was reported.
The morning after the hostilities, soldiers found an
improvised explosive device fashioned from 60 mm mortar with fragmentation
grenade as triggering mechanism. Army bomb experts later detonated the IED.
Limet said the IED was planted beside a house abandoned by
its residents last month.
According to Limet, the attack on Sopad detachment was meant
to divert attention from military clearing operations in nearby Barangay Tee,
also in Datu Salibo.
The Army official said he is expecting more similar attacks
in the future as the military has succeeded in neutralizing the outlawed group.
The Maguindanao conflict started in early February when BIFF
attacked a PHP58-million flood control project in Datu Salibo, Maguindanao.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=868179
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