Air, ground strikes vs BIFF men launched
Capt. Arvin Encinas, 6th Infantry Division spokesman, said soldiers of the 40th and 57th Infantry Battalions carried out the operations at around 3 a.m. after BIFF men were monitored massing in Barangays Meta and Timbangan. AFP Westmincom, File
MANILA, Philippines — The military launched air and ground offensives against the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao yesterday.
Capt. Arvin Encinas, 6th Infantry Division spokesman, said soldiers of the 40th and 57th Infantry Battalions carried out the operations at around 3 a.m. after BIFF men were monitored massing in Barangays Meta and Timbangan.
“Ground troops are still conducting clearing operations as of this time,” Encinas said yesterday afternoon.
There was no reported casualty on either side.
The military said another group of BIFF gunmen planted a bomb along the road in Barangay Timbangan in an apparent attempt to prevent a convoy of soldiers from proceeding in the area.
No soldier was hurt in the bomb explosion.
The military has been pursuing BIFF men believed to be involved in the burning of the 80-year-old San Isidro de Labrador chapel and destruction of religious images, including the statue of the patron saint in Barangay Labu-Labu since Thursday last week.
Maj. Gen. Arnel dela Vega said the military operations targeted BIFF leaders identified only as Herodin, Khadza and Lucman, believed to be henchmen of Iman Bongos, the self-proclaimed figurehead of the BIFF. The bandits were also tagged in recent harassments of Army detachments.
Ground troops are scouring the swamps at the boundary of Shariff Aguak and Datu Unsay in search of the bandits.
‘Abhorrent desecration’
Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Quevedo condemned the attack on the chapel, saying it was “an abhorrent desecration of a place of Catholic worship.”
“Such crime is most disturbing and provocative,” Quevedo said even as he expressed hope that the incident would not affect the harmonious relationship between Muslims and Christians in the area.
Last June 23, BIFF men destroyed religious items in a chapel in Pigcawayan, North Cotabato.
Quevedo called on religious leaders to condemn such abuses and “help prevent religious bigotry, hostility and conflict.” – With Evelyn Macairan
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