3 BIFF Remnants Wounded in Maguindanao Clash

COTABATO CITY — Three remnants of the defunct Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) were reportedly wounded in a clash with soldiers in a detachment in Talitay, Maguindanao del Norte, which they attacked on Sunday night, July 19. The attack was preceded, about an hour earlier by the detonation of a homemade bomb near an armored combat vehicle parked in front of an Army outpost in Barangay Linantangan, Shariff Saydona Mustapha, Maguindanao del Sur. Villagers identified the two BIFF members as Salik Enso Mungkas and Alimodin Amin Guiabar. Officials of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division and the Maguindanao del Norte Provincial Police Office told reporters on Monday, July 20, that around 15 terrorists crawled close to the detachment of the 12 Mechanized Company in Barangay Manggay, Talitay, and opened fire. Soldiers at the detachment returned fire, preventing the BIFF terrorists from getting close to their location. Local residents and traditional Moro datus told reporters on Monday that the BIFF terrorists who attacked the detachment fled after running out of ammunition, bringing with them three wounded companions, Omar Modih Barinso, Odin Sangkay Batua and Andong Aliman Badrudin. They told reporters that Badrudin is a nephew of Esmael Tingan Abubakar, the top BIFF leader who was wanted in more than 20 criminal cases pending before different courts. Abubakar was killed in a shootout with policemen and soldiers in Sitio Tambak, Barangay Calsada, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao del Norte, early this month. Major. Gen. Jose Vladimir Cagara, commander of 6th ID, and his immediate-superior, Lt. Gen. Donald Gumiran, chief of the Western Mindanao Command, separately told reporters on Monday that they are grateful to local executives and their constituent-religious leaders helping guard against possible retaliatory attacks by the remaining followers of Abubakar. Abubakar, also known as "Bongos" in the provinces of Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur in the Bangsamoro region, had a P3-million bounty on his head. Moro datus, local executives and members of the Islamic religious communities in both provinces reported his presence in Barangay Tambak, Sultan Kudarat. Policemen and soldiers attempted to arrest him peacefully on July 5, but he was neutralized after allegedly refusing to surrender and engaging them in a gunfight. Units under Brig. Gen. Christoper Abecia, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, and the 6th ID are cooperating to prevent BIFF remnants from moving around the two provinces and carrying out retaliatory attacks over Abubakar's death. Two soldiers, Cpl. Jessie Jay Bulanay and Cpl. Arnel Calapan of the 4th Scout Ranger Company of the 2nd Scout Ranger Battalion, and three civilians, John Dave Usman Santiago, Bassir Amban Batong and Pamiya Upam Bulingkig, were wounded in a grenade attack by two motorcycle-riding BIFF members on Saturday morning in the center of Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao del Sur. A motorcycle rider threw a fragmentation inside the fenced roadside detachment of the Charlie Company of the Army’s 7th Infantry Battalion in Barangay Macaguiling in Sultan Kudarat, on Saturday night, triggering a powerful explosion. No one was hurt in the incident. Source: Philstar Nation