BIFF withdraws from Pikit, leaves at least 20 houses razed

From GMA News (Feb 22): BIFF withdraws from Pikit, leaves at least 20 houses razed

Government forces have driven away Moro bandits who occupied at least eight villages in the outskirts of Pikit, North Cotabato, local officials said today.

 

But the Pikit Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (MDRRMC) said at least 17 homes of civilians who fled Barangay Kabasalan were razed to the ground.

 

“We cannot say who burned the houses, we counted 17 in Barangay Kabasalan alone,” Tahira Kalantongan of the Pikit MDRRMC said. Five houses in nearby Barangay Barongis, an MILF stronghold in Pikit, were also razed to the ground.

 

The Army 7th Infantry Battalion launched offensives Saturday and early Sunday against the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters after they occupied eight villages in Pikit and two barangays in nearby Pagalungan, Maguindanao.

 

MILF commander Jack Abas said the BIFF moved out of Barangay Kabasalan after the Army fired mortars and howitzers to support continued MILF pressure on the ground.

 

“Our troops are now in Kabasalan conducting clearing operations,” he said in a phone interview.

 

The BIFF, led by Kagi Karialan, occupied Kabasalan for about a week after they fled Mamasapano, Maguindanao following a clash with police Special Action Force troopers on Jan. 25.

 

Karialan is locked in a family feud with Abas, the root cause of the latest fighting in interior villages of Pagalungan and Pikit.

 

Abas has denied that there is a feud with Karialan, but said he cannot tolerate BIFF's alleged activities, which include extortion, bombing and other atrocities.

 

Abu Misry Mama, BIFF spokesperson, admitted his men have abandoned Barangay Kabasalan Sunday “because the Army used mortars and howitzers.”

 

“The Army and the MILF have joined forces against us, we will not back off, we will continue our guerrilla fight against them, to the last drop of our blood,” Mama said in Filipino.

 

The Pikit MDRRMC could not ascertain when the internally displaced persons from Barangay Kabasalan can return since many are afraid of unexploded ordnance in the area.

 

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/441796/news/regions/biff-withdraws-from-pikit-leaves-at-least-20-houses-razed