CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao — Seven members of the Islamic State-inspired Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) were killed during military artillery offensives on Monday and Tuesday in Sultan sa Barongis, Maguindanao, an Army official said.
Capt. Arvin John Encinas, the Army’s 6th Infantry Division (ID) spokesperson, said the number of fatalities was provided by local officials of Sitio Kabasalan, Barangay Darampua, Sultan sa Barongis, Maguindanao on Tuesday morning.
Artillery and mortar offensives were launched by the Army’s 601st Infantry Brigade based in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao on Monday night against the group of Ismael Abubakar, alias “Commander Bungos,” after the presence of about 50 BIFF armed men were confirmed.
“The operation was specific and no civilians were affected or displaced,” Encinas told the Philippine News Agency (PNA), adding that the target village was in the middle of the Liguasan marshland.
“The remains of slain BIFF had been taken by their relatives for Islamic burial rites before sundown,” he said. Citing reports from the ground, Encinas identified four of the seven the fatalities through their aliases as Amir, Badrudin, Mutalib, and Abdurahman, all under the BIFF Bungos faction.
Brigadier Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, the Army’s 6th ID commander, said the artillery attacks were carried out after an intelligence information was verified and confirmed. Village officials also reported the presence of Commander Bungos and his men in Sitio Kabasalan of Darampua village.
Sobejana said the armed men apparently converged in the sub-village to plan out terror attacks in civilian communities in the region and celebrate Eid’ul Adha (Feast of Sacrifice) on Tuesday.
Encinas said Army units in Sultan sa Barongis and adjoining Maguindanao towns are verifying reports “whether Commander Bungos was among the fatalities.”
At least six others were injured and carried by their comrades as they fled Barangay Darampua, the military said, quoting residents in the area.
In May, at least 50 BIFF were killed, including foreign looking members, when the Army’s 6th ID launched air and ground assaults in the marshland of General Salipada K. Pendatun town in the province. (Edwin Fernandez/PNA)
