Soldiers recover BIFF guns after brief firefight in Maguindanao
• 15:09 PM Sun Mar 19, 2017
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By:
Edwin O. Fernandez
(retired analyst blogger)
CAMP SIONGCO,
Maguindanao --– Government forces conducting clearing operations
following a focused law enforcement operations in Maguindanao last week clashed
late Saturday with about 10 lawless elements in Rajah Buayan, Maguindanao.
Capt. Arvin John
Encinas, 6th Infantry Division spokesperson, said the elements of
the 40th Infantry Battalion clashed with fleeing elements of the
Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in the village of Pidsandawan at
about 3 a.m.
Outnumbered,
the BIFF dispersed and fled toward the Liguasan marshland, leaving behind five
firearms, Encinas said.
Firearms
recovered were a Garand rifle, Carbine rifle, M-79 grenade launcher and two 12
gauge shot guns and bomb making devices.
Last week, the
Army launched air and ground assaults in the villages of Tee and Andavit, Datu
Salibo, Maguindanao after BIFF Commander Bungos and a Jemaah Islamiya senior
leader were sighted.
Encinas said
the focused military operations left at least 10 BIFF killed, including a
suspected foreign terrorists whose identity is still being validated.
Encinas said information
from villagers and troops on the ground said the BIFF immediately buried their
fallen comrades a day after the offensives.
Brigadier
General Arnel Dela Vega, 6th ID chief, vowed to relentlessly pursue
the bandits blamed for the series of roadside bombings against military
personnel stationed, including non-combatants, in Maguindanao’s second district.