Mindanao Armed Conflict

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao  – Two suspected members of the ISIS-linked Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) were slain in a clash with government forces in Maguindanao Saturday, the Army said today.

Government forces under the 33^rd Infantry Battalion conducting foot patrol were manning a quarantine checkpoint when they noticed three men acting suspiciously while on board a motorbike in Barangay Tuka, Mamasapano, Maguindanao, according to Lt. Colonel Elmer Boongaling, 33^rd IB chief.

MAGUINDANAO --- Insinuations by two enemy Moro groups in Guindulungan town that each has improvised explosive devices they can use against each other are causing panic among innocent villagers.

The two groups, one led by Babah Madaya of the Moro National Liberation Front, and the other under a certain Abdul Pagal of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, figured in a series of gunfights in interior areas in Guindulungan last week that displaced hundreds of residents.

CARMEN, North Cotabato – Cotabato Gov. Nancy Catamco today convened the warring families in Matalam, North Cotabato and successfully convinced the warring parties to a diplomatic arrangement and signed a peace pact.

The signing of peace covenant signaled the end of weeks of hostilities involving members of Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), led by Datu Dima Ambel and members of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) led by Naig Naga and his family.

COTABATO CITY --- Hundreds of families were displaced by gunfights over the weekend between feudal groups in Pikit, North Cotabato while other rival factions figured in deadly showdowns in towns nearby. 

The clashes in Barangays Balungis and Balatican in Pikit, located in the first district of North Cotabato, involved two heavily armed clans, one identified with the Moro National Liberation Front, the other led by a commander in the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. 

COTABATO CITY --- The Army’s 6^th Infantry Division honored Friday the two soldiers killed by Dawlah Islamiya bandits while performing anti-coronavirus frontline duties in Datu Hoffer town in Maguindanao.

The honor rites preceded the transport of the cadavers of Corporals Jermie Ombiang and Vicente Gata of the 57^th Infantry Battalion to their respective hometowns in central Mindanao.

Col. Steve Crespillo of the 6^th ID led the event, held at Camp Siongco in Datu Odin Sinsuat town in Maguindanao.

COTABATO CITY --- A police team killed in a brief shootout Thursday in Marawi City a kidnapper who was among top ten most wanted persons in Lanao del Sur.

Colopoy Ayonan died from multiple gunshot wounds sustained in an encounter with combined personnel of the Lanao del Sur provincial police and the Army’s 82^nd Infantry Battalion under the 103^rd Brigade.

SOUTH COTABATO --- Eleven more New People’s Army guerillas surrendered in Santo Niño town Sunday and together renounced their membership with the group in the presence of local officials.

Arnel Sabarillo, Hina Kim Belet, Bong Pendatun, John-John Agang, Marlon Yto, Edgar Permalino, Lemuel Magudinog, Ramil Bautista, Dionedes Alberto, Modesto Dading, and Abner Hinggilio, also turned in assorted firearms and components for improvised explosive devices.

MATALAM, North Cotabato  – Cotabato Gov. Nancy Catamco on Sunday took time off from her activities to maintain the province coronavirus free and visited this town to prevent the escalation of armed hostilities involving two Moro clans.

After receiving briefings from the security sector, Catamco has asked officials of the 602nd Infantry Brigade and the Cotabato police provincial office to ensure the safety of civilians from the villages of Kidama and Marbel, both in Matalam and facilitate their immediate return.

COTABATO CITY --- Hundreds of villagers have fled from interior barangays in Matalam, North Cotabato where two heavily armed Moro groups are locked in a deadly showdown since Wednesday.

Two longtime adversaries, the Ambel clan, identified with the Moro National Liberation Front, and the group of allies Naig Naga and Mail Imbong, both members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, are involved in the internecine gunfights in Barangays Kilada and Marbel in Matalam.

MAGUINDANAO -- Two grades school children were killed Friday when a grenade they found a while hunting for swamp birds in exploded.

The fatalities, Nash Utto and Edris Guiaman, died from multiple shrapnel wounds.

They were hunting for birds in a wetland in Barangay Sampao in Radjah Buayan, Maguindanao where they found the grenade that they played with and went off.