Forces remain on full alert in vs BIFF in Maguindanao town

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines — Guns in Datu Salibo, Maguindanao have been silent since Wednesday but military units are still on full alert, patrolling areas vulnerable to attacks by the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.

Lt. Col. Ricky Bunayog, commander of the Army’s 33rd Infantry Battalion, said the last military-BIFF encounters in the outskirts of Datu Salibo happened earlier this week, sparked by the intrusion of bandits into open fields in Barangays Tee and Andavit to lay booby traps along farm trails.

Sources from the Philippine Marine Corps said five personnel of the 5th Marine Battalion were hurt in the skirmishes, which waned only after the attackers ran out of ammunition and retreated to swampy areas near the 220,000-hectare Liguasan Delta.

The wounded Marines belong to a contingent deployed in Datu Salibo three weeks ago to augment the units of the Philippine Army trying to clear the entire municipality from BIFF presence.

Combined Marine and Army combatants from the 33rd IB and other component battalions of the 6th Infantry Division have figured in more than 50 encounters with BIFF forces in Datu Salibo since late January.

"It has been quiet in the area for about 36 hours now. Just the same, we are not taking chances. These gunmen are treacherous and attacks whenever they can have chance," Bunayog told The STAR on Friday.

Bunayog said what is dangerous with the BIFF is the group’s total disregard of the safety of civilians when they attack military targets.

Barangay folks said more than 30 bandits have been killed in a series of encounters with soldiers in Datu Salibo since January.

Five soldiers were killed while 36 others were hurt in the ensuing spate of skirmishes.

At least 13 of the wounded soldiers were hurt in roadside bombings while searching for improvised explosive devices in the surroundings of Barangay Tee, the BIFF’s former bastion now occupied by Army and Marine forces.