CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao – Government forces clashed with a band of Islamic State-linked Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) on the border of North Cotabato and Maguindanao provinces on Tuesday afternoon.
The 10-minute firefight by members of the Army’s 34th Infantry Battalion and Midsayap town police office against the 15-man BIFF group prompted the radicals to withdraw, said Major Arvin John Encinas, the Army’s 6th Infantry Division (ID) spokesperson.
Encinas said a high-power firearm was recovered following the 4 p.m. clash in Sitio Mangga, Barangay Tumbras, Midsayap, North Cotabato.
“The armed men withdrew toward the marshy area of Barangay Tumbras en route to the Maguindanao marshland,” he said, adding that the state forces encountered the group of Mama Macalimbol, a bomber and a known member of the terror group Dawlah Islamiyah-BIFF faction.
Major Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, 6th ID chief, said troops recovered a Garand rifle with ammunition abandoned in the clash site.
He lauded a “tipster” for providing timely information to government forces about the presence of gunmen in the village.
Sobejana said the armed group was planning to set off improvised bombs in Midsayap and surrounding areas when the clash occurred.
“They are regrouping after suffering defeat in Maguindanao. Now they move to other areas to regroup,” he said in a statement. (/PNA)
