NORTH COTABATO, Philippines - Four soldiers were killed in Monday’s running gunfights with members of the brigand Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters in five barangays in Midsayap town in the province, the military said.
Col. Dickson Hermoso, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said all of the 15 villagers the BIFF bandits held for more than 10 hours have been released through the intercession of local officials.
“They were held hostage and used as human shields. All of the 15 hostages, three of them public school teachers have all been accounted for and reunited with their families,†Hermoso said.
Four soldiers, two of them from the 7th Infantry Battalion, while the two others belonged to the 40th Infantry Battalion, were killed in the day-long gunbattles with the bandits.
A soldier, who was wounded in the ensuing encounters, was rushed to a hospital at the town proper of Midsayap.- John Unson