MAGUINDANAO, Philippines — Two followers of wanted terrorist Abu Toraife were killed in an Army artillery barrage before dawn Friday.
The targets of the bombardment were secluded areas in Shariff Saidona Mustapha, Maguindanao where members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters converged Thursday, as if preparing for an attack.
Community elders told reporters at noontime Friday that two followers of BIFF leader Abu Toraife --- Salem Ansao and Mudin Ramla --- were killed when a 105 Howitzer cannon projectile landed near them and exploded.
The Army’s 6th Infantry Division also dispatched teams of soldiers to scour interior interior barangays in Shariff Saidona Mustapha where Abu Toraife and his men were spotted on Thursday morning.
Lt. Col. John Paul Baldomar, spokesman of 6th ID, said the operation was launched to preempt Abu Toraife and his followers from perpetrating terror attacks anywhere in Maguindanao.
“Our pacification effort is a preemptive security campaign. The 6th ID is bent on preventing them from moving around,” Baldomar said.
Abu Toraife is facing more than 30 criminal cases in different courts in central Mindanao for deadly bomb attacks in the region since 2015.
The BIFF repeatedly intruded last month into farming enclaves in Datu Saudi town in Maguindanao, provoking clashes with the military that resulted in the displacement of more than 3,000 families.