Mindanao Armed Conflict

COTABATO CITY --- Members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front killed seven Dawlah Islamiya gunmen who tried to attack an Army detachment in Mamasapano town in Maguindanao Tuesday.

The slain terrorists were among more than 30 gunmen on light trucks and motorcycles en route to Barangay Tuka, Mamasapano where a detachment of the Army’s 33^rd Infantry Battalion is located.

MAGUINDANAO --- Local officials in Pagalungan town turned over Monday to the 602^nd Infantry Brigade six terrorists to renounce their membership with the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.

Pagalungan Mayor Salik Mamasabulod said Tuesday the six BIFF members yielded after learning that their companions who surrendered in recent months through the municipal peace and order council are now being reintegrated into the local communities.

SULTAN KUDARAT --- Soldiers shot dead three more New People’s Army guerillas in a series of clashes Sunday.

The encounter between combined personnel of the Army’s 5^th Special Forces Battalion and the 37^th Infantry Battalion in Barangay Datu Wasay in Kalamansig town in Sultan Kudarat also left four other NPAs wounded.

COTABATO CITY --- Two bomb couriers of the New People’s Army surrendered while five others urged former comrades to avail of Malacañang’s reconciliation program for NPAs on Saturday.

Brig. Gen. Roy Galido of the Army’s 601^st Infantry Brigade in Tacurong City said Sunday the two NPAs who yielded Saturday to the 5^th Special Forces Battalion in Lake Sebu, South Cotabato also turned in assault rifles.

SULTAN KUDARAT --- Seven were killed as soldiers foiled an attempt by hundreds of guerillas to commemorate in Palimbang town Saturday the 52^nd founding anniversary of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

The seven New People’s Army fatalities were shot dead one after another by personnel of units under the 603^rd Infantry Brigade in a series of encounters the past three days in the surroundings of Mount Lumuton in Palimbang, Sultan Kudarat.

MAGUINDANAO --- A pregnant woman was killed in a mortar blast in Barangay Pusaw in Shariff Saidona town Tuesday night, the second explosion in this province in just three days. 

The fatality, Ramea Damada, was inside their house, located in Sitio Sedsang in Barangay Pusaw in Shariff Saidona that got hit by a mortar projectile late Tuesday, according to sources from the town's multi-sector peace and order council.   

She died on the spot from multiple shrapnel wounds.

COTABATO CITY ---- Four members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and a soldier were wounded in a brief encounter Sunday in Northern Kabuntalan town in Maguindanao.

The gunfight erupted when a group of BIFF terrorists led by Omar Abdullah opened fire on personnel of the Army’s 34^th Infantry Battalion dispatched to check their presence in Sitio Macabenban in Barangay Indatuan in Northern Kabuntalan as reported by villagers.

Abdullah, also known as Commander OV-10, and his men were collecting “protection money” from hapless villagers then.

LANAO DEL SUR --- Eight members of the Dawlah Islamiya surrendered in Balindong town Saturday and pledged allegiance to the government. 

Brig. Gen. Jose Maria Cuerpo, commander of the 103^rd Infantry Brigade, said Sunday the eight men also turned in firearms and components for improvised explosive devices.

Cuerpo said the group yielded through the efforts of the Army’s 82nd Infantry Battalion and local officials.

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao  – Military forces fired simultaneous shots within a kilometer radius from a government forces detachment in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao harassed by radical rebels Wednesday night.

Lt. Colonel Anhouvic Atilano, speaking for the Army’s 6^th Infantry Division, said the undermanned Army-para military patrol base in Barangay Labo-Labo was attacked at about 10 p.m. by still undetermined number of Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).

“That attack was foiled,” Atilano said, adding that nobody was hurt in the attack. 

GEN. SANTOS CITY  – A town councilor in Sarangani province was killed by still unidentified gunmen while in this city, police said.

The 56-year-old Isedrito P. Cañete, village chair of Barangay Glan Padidu and ex-officio town councilor of Glan, Sarangani was shot by motorcycle riding gunmen who tailed the official’s Toyota Fortuner (NCY-3259) Wednesday morning while approaching Barangay Lagao, Gen. Santos City.