8 die as Army-BIFF continue exchanging shots in Maguindanao

DATU SALIBO, Maguindanao -- Eight bandits and an Army combatant were killed in a series of encounters Thursday in Maguindanao’s Datu Salibo town, sparked by harassments by the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) of local peasant communities.Barangay folks said eight BIFF gunmen were killed in the ensuing firefights, mostly adolescents the group recruited forcibly despite objection by their parents.Sources from the Army’s 6thInfantry Division said a combatant of the Army’s 57thInfantry Battalion was killed in the ensuing firefights, which deescalated immediately when artillery was used to drive the BIFF bandits away.The BIFF has been targeting non-military targets in its attacks the past six days to avenge the deaths of bandits killed by soldiers in recent encounters at the tri-boundary of Maguindanao’s Datu Salibo, Datu Saudi and Datu Piang towns.Evacuees had told reporters that besides the eight BIFF fatalities, nine other bandits were also wounded in Thursday’s hostilities.Witnesses confirmed seeing the fleeing bandits carry their dead and wounded companions as they fled towards the swampy border of Maguindanao and North Cotabato provinces.The Pagatin Elementary School became a collateral damage when a mortar round or a rocket propelled grenade landed on one of the school's classrooms.Captain Joann Petinglay, spokesperson of the Army’s 6thInfantry Division, said seven soldiers wounded in the skirmishes are now undergoing medication at a hospital.