More BIFF militants killed in encounters with MILF

MAGUINDANAO --- Eight more jihadists were killed Monday as helicopters mowed them with machineguns while fighting guerillas helping the military run after Islamic State-inspired militants.The fatalities belong to a third faction in the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters that clashed with pursuing members of the military-assisted Moro Islamic Liberation Front in Barangays Tee and Andavit in Salibo, Maguindanao on Monday.Local officials in Salibo and nearby Sharif Saidona and Datu Piang towns confirmed to reporters Tuesday the deaths of the eight followers of Esmael Abdulmalik, a former henchman of slain Malaysian bomb-maker Zulkifli bin Hir, most known as Marwan.Abdulmalik, whose alias is Abu Toraife, leads a third faction in the BIFF that uses the flag of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria as its revolutionary banner.All three factions in the BIFF are not covered by the ceasefire agreement between Malacañang and the MILF.Key community sources, among them local Muslim preachers, identified Abdulmalik’s men who were killed on Monday as Mosib, Abdullah, Sendi, Bonah, Onting, Zaide, Akmad and Junaid, all ethnic Maguindanaons.Senior military officials, however, said ten militants were killed and not just eight, confirming that three others were hurt in the airstrikes initiated by the Tactical Operations Group 12 of the Philippine Air Force.Col. Diosdado Carreon, commander of the Army’s 601stBrigade, told reporters Tuesday that the series of gunfights Monday between the group of Abdulmalik and members of the MILF’s Task Force Ittihad lasted for more than two hours.An MILF guerilla was killed while two others were wounded in the ensuing encounter, according to reports reaching the 601st Brigade Headquarters in Tacurong City and the office of Senior Supt. Agustin Tello, director of the Maguindanao provincial police.Carreon said ten BIFF gunmen, not just eight, were killed in Monday's incident. This was reported to us by local government officials, our informants in the barangays and our friends in the MILF, Carreon said.Members of the municipal peace and order councils in Maguindanao’s adjoining Salibo, Sharif Saidona and Datu Piang towns said the hostilities erupted when followers of Abdulmalik attacked Task Force Ittihad members while crossing a swampy area at the border of Barangays Tee and Andavit.The MILF has been running after the group of Abdulmalik since last month in keeping with its peace compact with Malacañang, the March 27, 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro.The MILF and the government are also bound to cooperate in fighting terrorists and criminal gangs in southern provinces by an interim security deal, the July 1997 Agreement on General Cessation of Hostilities.The MILF already lost 16 men in its bid to contain Abdulmalik’s group since last month.Abdulmalik have since lost 33 followers, according to the police and local executives privy to the activities of his group. (John Unson)