Army offensives clear Pikit village of BIFF

PIKIT, North
Cotabato – Government forces have driven away Moro bandits who occupied at
least eight villages in the outskirts of Pikit, North Cotabato, local officials
said today.

But the Pikit
municipal disaster risk reduction and management council (MDRRMC) said at least
17 homes of civilians who fled Barangay Kabasalan were razed to the ground.

We cannot say
who burned the houses, we counted 17 in Barangay Kabasalan alone,” Tahira
Kalantongan, Pikit MDRRMC said.

Five houses in
nearby Barangay Barongis, an MILF stronghold, also in Pikit were razed to the
ground.

The Army’s 7th
Infantry Battalion launched offensives Saturday and early Sunday against the
outlawed BIFF after they occupied eight villages in Pikit and two barangays in
nearby Pagalungan, Maguindanao.

Commander Jack
Abas of the MILF said the BIFF moved out of Barangay Kabasalan after the Army
fired mortars and howitzers.

Our troops
are now in Kabasalan conducting clearing operations,” he said in a phone
interview.

The BIFF, led
by Kagi Karialan, occupied Kabasalan for about a week after they fled
Mamasapano, Maguindanao following a clash with the police commandos on January
25.

Karialan was
locked in a family feud with MILF Commander Jack Abas and it was the root cause
of current armed conflict in interior villages of Pagalungan and Pikit.

Abu Misry
Mama, BIFF spokesperson, admitted his men abandoned Barangay Kabasalan Sunday because
the Army used mortars and howitzers.”

The Army and
the MILF have joined forces against us, we will not back off, we will continue
our guerrilla fight against them, to the last drop of our blood,” Mama said in
Filipino.

Kalantongan
could not ascertain when the internally displaced persons from Barangay
Kabasalan could return since many were afraid of unexploded ordnance that might
explode when civilians return home. (Ferdinandh Cabrera)