Mine sweep continues in former BIFF stronghold

From the Manila Bulletin (Mar 11): Mine sweep continues in former BIFF stronghold

Camp Siongco, Maguindanao — Three more improvised explosive devices (IED) were recovered and defused Thursday by Philippine Army bomb experts in Datu Salibo, Maguindanao, the Army here said yesterday.

Capt. Joann Petinglay, Sixth Infantry Division spokesperson, said clearing operations have not stopped even after the stronghold of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) was overran by government forces earlier this week.

The three IEDs, made of black powder, blasting mechanism circuit and cut nails which serve as shrapnel, were found in Barangay Balas and Barangay Tee, both in Datu Salibo where construction of a P58-million flood control project has also resumed.

“We continue clearing operations, we cannot recommend as of yet the return of displaced families, your military will not leave the site unless the communities are free of IEDs,” Petinglay said in a radio interview.

 

Kadiguia Aguiam, an evacuee from the village of Tee but who has been staying in a public school in nearby Datu Saudi Ampatuan in Maguindanao when violence erupted on February 10, admitted life has been very difficult in cramped evacuation sites.

“Life here is hard, we are not productive, we rely on food ration, we hope the Army could clear the area very soon so we can go back home,” Aguiam, clutching her four-year-old son, said.

http://www.mb.com.ph/mine-sweep-continues-in-former-biff-stronghold/