The outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) stepped up attacks on military detachments in Maguindanao and Cotabato on Friday, both of which were repulsed by government forces, the police and military said yesterday.
About 50 BIFF bandits tried but failed to overrun a para-military detachment at about 8 p.m. in a remote village in Aleosan, North Cotabato, firing assault rifles and grenades at Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) forces before retreating to the Liguasan marshlang after a two-hour gun battle.
The militia detachment was one of the many outposts established by the military to prevent BIFF, now under attack by government forces in Datu Salibo, from harassing civilian communities in North Cotabato.
According to the military, an undetermined number of BIFF gunmen also tried to overrun the Sopad Detachment of the 24th Mechanized Company of the Second Mechanized Infantry Battalion in Barangay Sambolawan by likewise firing assault rifles, rifle grenades and grenades at 11 p.m. Friday.
The attack triggered a four-hour firefight, ending at about 3 a.m. Five areas near the military detachments bore blood stains, an indication the hostilities left BIFF fighters wounded.
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 were seen by residents and soldiers at sunrise.
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, too, 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.
http://www.mb.com.ph/biff-attacks-detachments-in-maguindanao-cotabato/
About 50 BIFF bandits tried but failed to overrun a para-military detachment at about 8 p.m. in a remote village in Aleosan, North Cotabato, firing assault rifles and grenades at Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) forces before retreating to the Liguasan marshlang after a two-hour gun battle.
The militia detachment was one of the many outposts established by the military to prevent BIFF, now under attack by government forces in Datu Salibo, from harassing civilian communities in North Cotabato.
The bandits were then believed to have proceeded to Datu Salibo, Maguindanao where they launched another failed attack at a military detachment where at least five of their comrades were believed to have been wounded.
The attack triggered a four-hour firefight, ending at about 3 a.m. Five areas near the military detachments bore blood stains, an indication the hostilities left BIFF fighters wounded.
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 were seen by residents and soldiers at sunrise.
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, too, 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.
http://www.mb.com.ph/biff-attacks-detachments-in-maguindanao-cotabato/
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