Patrolling soldiers clashed Tuesday with pro-ISIS fighters in the town of Shariff Saydona Mustapha in the restive Muslim province of Maguindanao in southern Philippines, officials said.
The fighting erupted ahead of a schedule homeland plebiscite in the region, but officials said there was no immediate report of casualties on the side of the militants, who were members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters or BIFF.
The clash erupted in Inaladan village where civilians tipped off the military on the presence of gunmen carrying improvised explosives.
A military photo released to the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner shows the recovered improvised explosive and rifles from the dreaded BIFF militants following a clash January 15, 2019 in the southern Maguindanao province.
There were no military casualties and the 6th Infantry Division said soldiers from the 40th Infantry Battalion under Lt. Col. Edgar Catu recovered one improvised explosive, three M14 rifles and one AR18 rifle from the encounter site.
The military has blamed the BIFF for the spate of attacks against security forces and bombings of civilian targets in the Muslim autonomous region. The militant group is also being linked to the deadly New Year’s Eve bombing outside the South Seas Mall in Cotabato City that left dozens of casualties.
BIFF leaders pledged allegiance with ISIS and vowed to fight the Filipino government for the establishment of a strict caliphate in the region composed of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao – the most violent province in the area and stronghold of various pro-ISIS groups.
Muslims are to decide whether to approve the proposed expansion of the moderate Muslim region that would be called Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and ruled by Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels whose group signed an interim peace deal with Manila in 2014.
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