N. Cotabato towns placed on alert after BIFF attacked nearby village

KIDAPAWAN CITY (Dec 23) – At least four towns in North Cotabato were placed under heightened alert following the attack launched on Monday by believed to be members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF). This as BIFF spokesman Abu Misry Mamatold a news outlet here earlier that his group is not out to plot attacks during the Yuletide season. On Monday, suspected BIFF members attacked an Army detachment at Barangay Tubak in Pagangan, Maguindanao, just about 20 kilometers away from Pikit town in North Cotabato. The attackers, led by a certain BIFF Commander Marines, fired their armalite rifles towards the detachment.None among the soldiers assigned in the area was hurt, reports said. Inspector Sindatu Karim, chief of Pikit Police, said he immediately alerted his unit to thwart possible terror plots the BIFF might set off anytime against the civilians. Aside from Pikit, also placed under ‘heightened alert’ were towns of Midsayap, Aleosan, Kabacan, and Kidapawan City. Earlier, an intelligence report citied these areas as among those placed earlier under terror alert number 3” or areas with high possibility of terror attacks. The basis of such report, according to police officials, was the proximity of these towns to bases or headquarters of lawless elements, the BIFF in particular.