CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao – A member of the Islamic State-inspired Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) was killed following an encounter with elements of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Mamasapano, Maguindanao on Thursday.
Major Arvin John Encinas, the Army’s 6th Infantry Division (ID) spokesperson, said MILF members and BIFF gunmen men traded bullets and mortar fires from 5 a.m. until 11 a.m. in Sitio Makalag, Barangay Pimbalakan in Mamasapano. The BIFF faction was under Zaunudin Kiaro.
As government forces moved in to support the MILF, the BIFF fled toward the marshy section of the adjacent village of Inidalan in Shariff Saydona town, also in Maguindanao, using motorized bancas.
}Encinas said Army troopers, together with their MILF counterparts, later recovered the body of the slain BIFF member, identified as Saudi Sabang.
Under the existing government ceasefire agreement with the MILF, soldiers and MILF forces would coordinate to neutralize lawless elements in MILF-identified areas.
The military has acknowledged several MILF villages in Mamasapano, including a big MILF encampment in Barangay Tukanalipao, where government programs are being implemented in the area.
Major Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, commander of the Army’s 6th ID and head of Joint Task Force Central, lauded the MILF for its “commitment to the ceasefire agreement, and for helping the military prevent radical and extremist groups from infiltrating Moro communities to promote violent extremism.” (Edwin Fernandez/PNA)
