6 militants killed as military raids BIFF lairs in Maguindanao

COTABATO CITY -- Six members of the Islamic State-inspired Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) were killed while two other militants were wounded during a day-long military operation in Shariff Saydona Mustapha, Maguindanao on Monday.

Maj. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, Army’s 6th Infantry Division (6ID) commander, said a soldier was also killed while another was wounded during the clashes.

He declined to identify them pending proper notification of their respective families.

“Expect a continuing military operation in the coming days to flush out the BIFF in the peripheries of communities near the Liguasan marshland,” the military official told newsmen here Tuesday.

Sobejana confirmed the casualties on the BIFF side based on body counts at the main site of the battle in Barangay Inaladan, Shariff Saydona Mustapha.

“We are in the process of confirming their identities,” he said, adding that the two wounded radicals were also monitored being carried away by their fleeing comrades.

Military helicopter gunships, backed by artillery fire, pounded on the BIFF pinpointed lairs in the Liguasan Marsh area, which prompted the evacuation of villagers from Inaladan.

Military ground troops also noted evacuations in the neighboring areas of Barangay Pagatin, Datu Salibo and Barangay Tuka in Mamasapano town.

Sobejana identified the targets of the operation as the BIFF factions of Karialan, Bongos, and Abu Toraife.

“We are doing this operation (against the BIFF) fast because of the psychological impact it might have on civilians in the area,” he said.

Sobejana said he looks forward to neutralizing for good the BIFF the soonest time, possibly before the conduct of the May 13 elections this year. (PNA/By Noel Punzalan)