BIFF attacks 2 Army detachments in North Cotabato towns

NORTH COTABATO --- Bandits attacked two detachments of government troops in separate incidents in two North Cotabato towns on Saturday night and before dawn Sunday.Supt. Romeo Galgo, Jr., spokesman of the Regional Police Office-12, said members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters shot with assault rifles a militia detachment in Barangay Nalapaan in Pikit, North Cotabato at 4and00 a.m. Sunday, sparking a firefight.The local police said the militiamen in the detachment returned fire, preventing the BIFF gunmen from closing in.Four BIFF bandits were reportedly wounded in the ensuing exchange of gunfire.Community sources, among them traditional leaders, identified two of the wounded BIFF bandits as adolescents Tatoh and Ahmad.The incident, which caused panic among Muslim and Christian residents in Barangay Nalapaan, was preceded by a bungled attempt by BIFF bandits to takeover an Army detachment in Barangay Pagangan in Aleosan, North Cotabato.Local officials said BIFF gunmen approached the detachment --- manned by soldiers and local members of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit --- from two directions and opened fire with assault rifles and shoulder-fire 40 millimeter grenades.Although outnumbered, the troops in the detachment maneuvered and outflanked their attackers, forcing them to scamper away.The Aleosan municipal police said barangay folks have confirmed that the gunmen belong to the outlawed BIFF.The group, which splintered from the MILF in 2010, boasts of loyalty to the Independent State of Iraq and Syria and is using the black ISIS flag as its revolutionary banner.