Army bombards BIFF posts in North Cotabato

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines – Soldiers yesterday pounded with artillery the posts of Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) bandits in Pikit town here to force them to leave and stop extorting villagers.

The bombardment was triggered by the BIFF’s ambush on members of the Army’s 7th Infantry Battalion (IB) who were patrolling in Barangay Bulol last week.

The BIFF, a breakaway group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, does not recognize the peace agreement forged by the government and the MILF in 1997.

Lt. Col. Audie Edralin, chief of the Army’s 7th IB, said his men were responding to reports about the presence of armed men in Barangay Bulol when they were ambushed by the bandits.

The bandits, led by Gani Saligan and Imam Karialan, thrice figured in encounters last week with MILF forces under Jack Abbas at the border of Pikit and Pagalungan town in Maguindanao.

The hostilities forced more than 10,000 families to seek shelter at evacuation sites near Pagalungan and Pikit.

Capt. Jo-Ann Petinglay, spokesperson for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said the military’s response to the BIFF’s attack was just enough to drive the bandits away.

Petinglay said the Army’s 7th IB and the local police are initiating measures to force the bandits to leave the villages they took over last week.