3 die in Army-BIFF clash in Sultan Kudarat

SULTAN
KUDARAT - Members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters
(BIFF) attacked before dawn Thursday a paramilitary detachment in
President Qurino town and killed a peasant as they hastily escaped
carrying two dead and six wounded companions.The fatality was identified by local policemen as Maximo Salamanca, brother of former President Quirino Mayor Emilio Salamanca.The retreating BIFF bandits figured in a two-hour firefight with responding combatants of the Army’s 601stBrigade,
after failing to breach through the defense perimeters of the
detachment they shot with assault rifles and B-40 anti-tank rockets.Col. Dickson Hermoso, spokesman of the Army’s 6thInfantry
Division, said the latest military-BIFF encounter was sparked by the
attack on the position of militiamen in Barangay Katiku in President
Quirino. Those
bandits are trying to infiltrate the local communities which they want
to subject to harsh taxation activities,” Hermoso said.Local
folks have confirmed seeing the fleeing bandits carry two dead and six
wounded companions as they scampered toward the swampy border of
President Quirino and Lambayong town, also in Sultan Kudarat.The
slain BIFF bandits were still adolescents, according to beleaguered
residents, forced to evacuate to the town proper by the hostilities.Salamanca was killed while helping community watchmen drive the bandits away.Salamanca, a rice farmer, died from gunshot wounds in different parts of his body.Col. Melquiades Feliciano, commanding officer of the Army’s 601stBrigade, said soldiers have been deployed in strategic areas in Barangay Katiku to prevent a repeat of the BIFF attack.