Mindanao Armed Conflict

PIKIT, North Cotabato – Three members of IS-linked armed group surrendered to military authorities here on Friday bringing with them high powered firearms and rifle grenades.

The three members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) group belonged to Ustadz Karialan faction operating in the borders of Maguindanao and North Cotabato.

COTABATO CITY --- Soldiers on Saturday found three more dead Dawlah Islamiya gunmen killed by soldiers in clashes this week in upland areas in Maguindanao province.

The cadavers of Abdul Dinas, Mosani Lomen and Pendih Sanggutin bore gunshot and shrapnel wounds sustained in gunfights with Army units that cleared from Dawlah Islamiya bandits the strategic hills in the border of Ampatuan and Datu Hofer towns.

Dinas and Sangutin are both radical clerics, according to members of the municipal peace order and councils in the second district of Maguindanao. 

COTABATO CITY --- Guns have been silent since Tuesday night in the hinterland borders of Maguindanao’s Ampatuan and Datu Hoffer towns, but evacuees are reluctant to return to their homes for fear of harassments by the Dawlah Islamiya.

The Dawlah Ismiya, also known as the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, is feared for venting ire on innocent civilians for losses in encounters with state security forces.

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao  – More war materials and bomb making ingredients were found by government forces in former encampments of IS linked gunmen overran by the Armed Forces of the Philippine a following a weeklong air and ground assaults.

Lt. Colonel Edwin Alburo, commander of the 57th Infantry Battalion, in his report to Colonel Jose Narciso, 601st brigade commander and Major Gen. Diosdado Carreon, 6th Infantry Division commander, said the war materials were found by 57th IB troopers in the mountains of Ampatuan, Maguindanao Tuesday afternoon.

COTABATO CITY - Four more members of the Dawlah Islamiya were wounded in a spate of clashes with soldiers in upland areas in Maguindanao province from Saturday until early Sunday.

Army units under the 601^st Brigade of the 6^th Infantry Division have cleared from occupation by Dawlah Islamiya bandits more than ten small makeshift encampments in the hinterland border of Ampatuan and Datu Hoffer towns in Maguindanao following a series of gunfights that started on March 2.

COTABATO CITY --- Four Army combatants and nine members of the Dawlah Islamiya were killed in clashes the past four days in the hinterlands of Maguindanao province.

The latest military fatalities, Privates 1^st Class Willy Tingzon and Dexter Jay Hierro, both belonged to the Army’s 57^th Infantry Battalion.

Tingzon and Hierro were in a contingent of soldiers from different units of the 6^th Infantry Division dispatched early Monday to clear the mountains at the border of Ampatuan and Datu Hoffer towns from occupation by Dawlah Islamiya forces.

SHARIFF AGUAK, Maguindanao  – A town councilor of Mamasapano, Maguindanao survived assassination Friday afternoon when gunmen on motorbike ambushed him, police said.

Speaking over DXMS Radyo Bida, Lt. Colonel Henry Banias, Mamasapano town police chief, identified the victim as Councilor Mastura Bedtigilan Kamidsa, 47, a resident of Barangay Tuka.

Banias said Kamidsa was driving his Toyota Innova vehicle from the Mamasapano town hall heading for Shariff Aguak when gunmen opened fire on him using M-16 Armalite rifle at past 3 p.m.

COTABATO CITY  — The battle continues and another two fallen soldiers were killed while six were wounded after an intense gun battlefollowed by an IED explosion.

Major Arvin Encinas, spokesperson of Western Mindanao Command, said the incident took place in Barangay Salman, Ampatuan, Maguindanao.

The first salvo of gunfight took around 8:50 am when platoon of soldiers from 57th Infantry Battalion while conducting clearing operation encountered the group of ISIS inspired group of the BangsamoroIslamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).

COTABATO CITY ---- Another soldier perished Tuesday in internecine clashes with Dawlah Islamiya gunmen in the upland border of Ampatuan and Shariff Aguak towns in Maguindanao.

The slain Cpl. Albert Serquina, who was killed in a gunfight with Dawlah Islamiya members Tuesday afternoon, belonged to the 40^th Infantry Battalion.

Sgt. Irvin Alberastine of the 57^th Infantry Battalion died from gunshot wounds sustained in an encounter with Dawlah Islamiya gunmen also in Tuayan the day before.

COTABATO CITY -- Four benefactors, including the United States Agency for International Development, will help farmers in Marawi City and Lanao del Sur recover from the effects of recent armed conflicts.

Lanao del Sur Mamintal Adiong, Jr. and representatives from USAID, Plan International, East-West Seed Philippines and the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation forged Tuesday a memorandum of agreement binding them to cooperate on agriculture and fishery programs that would benefit the Maranao communities.