From The Manila Times (Mar 17, 2019): 3 more BIFF gunmen slain in Maguindanao
SHARIFF AGUAK, Maguindanao: Philippine Army troops of the 6th Infantry Division (6ID) recovered more powerful improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in two enclaves of pro-Islamic State terrorists belonging to the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) after a series of clashes in Maguindanao.
Maj. Arvin Encinas, spokesman for the 6ID, said on Saturday that three more followers of Abu Toraife, leader of the most radical BIFF faction, were killed in the ensuing gunfights.
Army snipers killed Uyao Badruddin, Igasan Kamid and Gulam Madsid, in an encounter in Barangay Inaladan in Shariff Saidona Mustapha town in the second district of Maguindanao.
Encinas said units of the 6ID have been running after BIFF forces in Shariff Saidona Mustapha and nearby towns since March 9, after bandits killed four off-duty soldiers in a series of attacks in Maguindanao and in Cotabato City early on.
Local officials confirmed the death of 16 BIFF members in a series of encounters since last week with pursuing personnel of the 1st Mechanized and the 40th Infantry Battalions and the elite 61st Division Reconnaissance Company of the 6ID.
Major Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, 6ID commander, said their continuing hunt for BIFF bandits in towns along the Liguasan Marsh was aimed at neutralizing Abu Toraife’s group.
Toraife, a bomb-maker whose real name is Abdulmalik Esmael, was blamed for the deadly bombings in Central Mindanao in the past three years.
Local officials and Islamic religious leaders said there were at least four foreigners tagging along with Toraife — Saab Sha’arbatri, who has Middle Eastern features; Zaruum Sumaharti, an Indonesian; and a Malaysian named Omar Kenzih.
Information has spread around since Monday purporting that a fifth foreigner, Muahwia, a Malaysian, was killed in military airstrikes that destroyed his hideout in Shariff Saidona Mustapha.
https://www.manilatimes.net/3-more-biff-gunmen-slain-in-maguindanao/526741/
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