Mindanao Armed Conflict

SULTAN KUDARAT -- Soldiers defused an improvised explosive device and seized firearms and ammunition in separate operations in Barangay Bagumbayan in President Quirino, Sultan Kudarat Thursday.

Servicemen of the Army’s 40th Infantry Battalion under the 601st Infantry Brigade first deactivated an IED that passersby found along a farm route in Barangay Bagumbayan.

Two Abu Sayyaf Group members yield to the troops of the 44^th Infantry Battalion in Imelda, Zamboanga Sibugay at 8:30am today, November 14.

“The two were identified as a.k.a Jolo Usman and a.k.a Jul. They are residents of Talipao, Jolo, Sulu and operating under Sibih Pisih, one of the notorious leader of the Abu Sayyaf Group,” said Lt. Col. Don Templonuevo, 44IB Commander.

“Both, however, chose to conceal in Sibugay Province since 2016,” added Lt. Col. Templonuevo.

The two handed over 2 Garand rifles.

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao  – A government soldier and two Moro rebels identified with ISIS were killed and five others were injured after clashes erupted between government forces and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) Saturday, the Army said today.

Major Arvin John Encinas, speaking for Western Mindanao Commmand, said the firefight erupted at 9 a.m. while soldiers of the 33^rd Infantry Battalion were conducting foot patrols near Tukanalipao river in Barangay Tukanalipao, Mamasapano, Maguindanao.

LANAO DEL SUR  --- Three companions of a municipal mayor, one of them a policeman, were wounded in an ambush in Buadipuso Buntong town on Sunday.

Mayor Nasser Pangandaman, Jr. of Masiu, Lanao del Sur survived the attack unscathed.

Col. Madzgani Mukaram, director of the Lanao del Sur provincial police, said gunmen positioned at one side of the road in Barangay Gata in Buadipuso Buntong opened fire at Pangandaman’s convoy and scampered away immediately.

SHARIFF AGUAK, Maguindanao – At least one member of IS linked gunmen was killed while two others were wounded in a clash between government forces and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in the site of 2015 Mamasapano massacre that claimed the lives of 44 elite cops and 17 rebels.

MAGUINDANAO --- Two feuding commanders of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), one backed by group of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerillas, have agreed to reconcile soon before local officials.

Captain Edmar Aycocho, chief of the Datu Blah Sinsuat municipal police, said MNLF commanders Dong Taup Ibrahim and Abdillah Parol conceded to a settlement of their rido (clan war) that Mayor Marshal Sinsuat is to broker.

Ibrahim is being backed by group of MILF members led by Abdulbayan Saludin in his fight with Parol, according to Aycocho.

KIDAPAWAN CITY  — An alert farmer prevented explosives to go to wrong hands after he alerted police authorities about his discovery in his farm in Magpet, North Cotabato over the weekend, police said today.

Vincent Olarte Cantillas, a farmer and a resident of Barangay Kamada, Magpet, rushed to the police station on Saturday afternoon after he noticed high explosives inside a pail buried in his farm in Sitio San Roque, Barangay Amabel, also in Magpet.

SULTAN KUDARAT --- Soldiers took over Friday a large camp of the New People’s Army in Palimbang town after an airstrike that sent its occupants running for their lives.

The clearing operation of the 603^rd Brigade under the Army’s 6^th Infantry Division that led to the fall of the NPA enclave in Barangay Batang Bagras in Palimbang, Sultan Kudarat was carried out after residents confirmed the presence of NPAs in the area collecting “protection money” from hapless farmers on periodic basis.

MIDSAYAP, North Cotabato  – Relatives of seven alleged IS linked Moro rebels slain in an encounter with government forces in Barangay Tumbras here Wednesday claimed they were innocent, minors and not rebels.

Manto Sema, grandfather of Angelo Bangon, one of the seven alleged members of Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) killed in clashes with Midsayap police and members of 34^th Infantry Battalion in a swamp area of Barangay Tumbras.

NORTH COTABATO  --- Authorities are anticipating retaliations by  local terror group after seven members  were killed Wednesday in a clash with combined police and Army personnel in Midsayap town.

A wanted bomber, Mama Macalimbol, and six of his henchmen were killed in the incident.

Macalimbol, a key member of the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, is wanted for a series of recent bombings in central Mindanao.

Macalimbol faced criminal cases in local courts.