‘Foreign militants among dead in air strikes vs BIFF’

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines — The military is validating reports that foreign militants were among those killed in air strikes against the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) on Sunday.

Local officials, who refused to be identified, said they received reports that four of the 15 fatalities are foreigners.

 The air strikes and ground offensive in Barangay Pagalungan in this province and at the border of General Pendatun and Lambayong towns in Sultan Kudarat targeted BIFF bomb makers Taib Dinggo and Abu Walid, who were reportedly trained by slain Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan.

Police have yet to confirm reports that Dinggo was among the fatalities.

Quoting residents who fled their homes at the height of the military operation, members of municipal peace and order councils said at least 10 of the fatalities were BIFF men. 

 “It was a calibrated law enforcement activity... to weaken the capability of a group known for using IEDs (improvised explosive devices) to kill innocent people,” Brig. Gen Cirilito Sobejana, 6th Infantry Division (ID) commander, said.

Sobejana said they learned of the presence of BIFF men in the area after receiving reports from barangay and local government officials.

He said personnel of the Special Action Battalion of the Sultan Kudarat police participated in the operation.

Suspected BIFF bomb maker Ustadz Anwar Ali, 22, and his wife Asnaya, 21, were arrested while trying to escape from a suspected BIFF bomb factory destroyed in the air strikes.

Thousands displaced, classes suspended

Around 7,000 residents were displaced in the military offensive. They are staying in evacuation centers in Barangay Pagalungan in Pikit and several barangays in Lambayong and General Pendatun.

Classes in Pagalungan, Datu Montawal, Rajah Buayan and General Pendatun in this province were suspended yesterday for security reasons.

Authorities expressed concern that the BIFF would avenge their losses by launching retaliatory attacks targeting civilians.

 MILF support

The military said the operation against the BIFF was conducted in “full coordination” with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front  Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (MILF-CCCH), according to the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP).

“The operation was successful, resulting in the eradication of identified IED factories,”OPAPP said.

Follow-up operations are ongoing to ensure that the terrorists are confined in the area, it added.

Coordinating team

The OPAPP noted that Maj. Gen. Dato’ Mohd Nazir Bin Haji Mami, head of mission of the 13th Mindanao International Monitoring Team, presided over a meeting of representatives of the MILF and government CCCHs, MILF Ad hoc Joint Action Group, 6th ID, 602nd Infantry Brigade and 7th Infantry Battalion following the military offensive.

The government agreed to create a team to discuss cooperation between government and MILF forces against terrorism.

 “It was also agreed that the MILF ceasefire mechanism will inform evacuees... that they should keep calm and return to their respective communities because they are not the target of the operation,” OPAPP said. – With Edith Regalado, Jose Rodel Clapano