2 BIFF bandits killed, 3 wounded in Maguindanao hostilities
MAGUINDANAO, Philippines — Soldiers shot dead two members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters in an encounter in Barangay Mao in Datu Paglas town Sunday.
The slain bandits were followers of Kagui Karialan, leader of one of three factions in the BIFF, who is facing more than 30 cases in different courts for acts of terror, including deadly bombings in central Mindanao in recent years.
Sunday’s hostilities in Barangay Mao erupted when BIFF gunmen attacked soldiers patrolling in the area, dispatched to check on reports by villagers on sightings of armed men around.
The slain Mansur Amil and Salem Oting were among about a hundred BIFF bandits who stormed the public market of Datu Paglas last May 8, an incursion that sparked hostilities with units of the Army’s 601st Brigade dispatched to drive them away.
Seven BIFF members have since been killed in continuing Army clearing operations.
Three other BIFF gunmen, initially identified only as Tatoh, Sanged and Samsudin, were wounded in Sunday’s encounter in Barangay Mao, according to sources from the local communities, among them religious leaders.
Major Gen. Juvymax Uy, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said soldiers found broken rifle parts and ammunition in the scene.
Uy said their campaign against Karialan and his followers behind the May 8 atrocity in the town proper of Paglas will continue as planned.
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