4 BIFF die in Army artillery fire in Maguindanao, North Cotabato borders
Breaking News • 03:21 AM Sun Feb 22, 2015
3,324
By:
Ferdinandh Cabrera
File photo or artillery being loaded with ammunition by Philippine Army troops. (courtesy of 6th Infantry Division)
PIKIT, Maguindanao – The military’s day
long artillery fire against lawless Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF)
in Maguindanao, North Cotabato borders have already left four BIFF killed.
The Army’s 7th Infantry Battalion
artillery units based in Barangay Gli-gli here fired dozens of howitzers toward
Barangay Kabasalan, one of the villages occupied by the BIFF since last week
following a clash with Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Commander Sekak, a lieutenant of Commander Jack
Abas, said four BIFF fighters were killed in the Army artillery offensive at
about 1 p.m. Saturday.
Residents in the village of Gli-gli said the
military’s artillery offensives started at about 6 a.m. and ended at 3 p.m.
Colonel Noel Clement, 602nd Infantry
Brigade chief, the artillery fire was part of the clearing operations of the
Army after the BIFF occupied Barangay Kabasalan.
We want to normalize the situation by driving away
the BIFF deep into the Liguasan marsh,” he told reporters.
Mohaqher Iqbal, MILF chief negotiator, said the Army
offensive was a government initiative but coordinated with the MILF forces on
the ground.
Several houses were also torched by the BIFF in Sitio
Balibet, Barangay Buliok, which is a two kilometres away from Barangay
Kabasalan, both in Pikit, North Cotabato.
Commander Jack Abas said he has not rido (family
feud) with the leadership of the BIFF but his former companions should move
away from his area of coverage.
He said the MILF is against the BIFF practices of
setting off improvised bombs in North Cotabato.
Malakas ang pwersa ng Army kasi may kanyon sila (The
Army is stronger because of their artillery) but we are not backing off,” Abu
Misry Mama, BIFF spokesperson, said.
He also denied four of his men were killed in the
Army mortar shelling. Only two, only
two BIFF were martyred,” he added.
On Friday night, the one MILF fighter was killed
when the BIFF set of a cellphone triggered improvised bomb in Barangay
Kalbugan, Pagalungan, Maguindanao.
Seven IEDs were recovered and detonated by the MILF
by setting them on fire. (Ferdinandh Cabrera)