BIFF abandons strongholds; 19 bandits killed

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines - – The outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) abandoned three of their strongholds and splintered into small groups as clashes erupted anew yesterday, with 19 suspected rebels killed by government troops here.

Local officials in Datu Piang town said residents reported seeing the bandits emerge from their lairs late Monday, dragging the bodies of more than a dozen of their dead comrades.

Two soldiers of the Army’s 45th Infantry Battalion who were tasked to flush out the bandits from their hideouts were wounded in a brief encounter near Datu Piang early yesterday.

Col. Dickson Hermoso, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said troops also figured in a firefight with BIFF rebels in Barangay Bakat in Shariff Saydona town.

“We initiated it because we are launching law enforcement operations,” Hermoso said.

The gun battles were sporadic and are not expected to escalate due to the government forces’ efforts to contain the rebels, he said.

“We blocked (their possible exit routes) so they won’t go beyond the two municipalities,” he said, referring to Shariff Saydona and Datu Piang.

Local officials in North Cotabato’s adjoining Pikit and Midsayap towns, and in Datu Piang, in Saidona Mustapha, and in Sultan sa Barongis municipalities confirmed 19 rebels were killed in the encounters with government forces in the marshlands surrounding the two provinces.

“Seven of the fatalities were killed when 105 mm howitzer shells landed near them while they were trading shots with soldiers approaching their lairs along a river in Datu Piang,” one local official said.

An eight-year-old girl and a pregnant woman were wounded in an explosion in the public terminal in Datu Piang yesterday noon.

Officials said the BIFF are launching diversionary attacks to stall military offensives.

Local officials added two BIFF fighters were killed and three others were wounded in firefights near Paidu Pulangi in Pikit, North Cotabato.

Police intelligence sources added some of the BIFF fatalities were in their teens recruited as child combatants.

Troops from the Army’s 601st Infantry Brigade succeeded in clearing Kabalukan area in Datu Piang from BIFF occupation after about six hours that forced the rebels to retreat to the 200,000-hectare Liguasan Marsh.   –  With Alexis Romero