BIFF guerillas harass North Cotabato towns
Local News • 15:11 PM Wed Sep 24, 2014
1,163
By:
by Ferdinandh Cabrera with reports from Neriza Espino, DXND Kidapawan
KIDAPAWAN
CITY (Sept. 24) – Armed men suspected to be members of the renegade Bangsamoro
Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) harassed villages in the adjoining towns of Matalam
and Kabacan in North Cotabato Tuesday night, authorities said.
The
renegades, numbering about 50 first harassed a militia detachment in the village
of Malamote, Matalam, North Cotabato that triggered an overnight exchange of
gunfire, 1Lt. Jose Carlos Gamuz, chief of the 7th Infantry Battalion
Charlie company told Radyo Bida Kidapawan.
He said the
militia engaged the attackers in sporadic fire fight that started at 10 p.m.
until 4 a.m.
No casualty
was reported on the government side, he said.
Earlier in
the day, the bandits harassed the villages of Lower Paatan and Kuyapon, both in
Kabacan, North Cotabato which was adjacent to Matalam.
The
harassment forced hundreds of civilians to flee toward the Poblacion last
night.
A village
official said the civilians were forced to flee after seeing BIFF guerrillas massing
from the Liguasan marshland.
The
displaced families are now housed at the town municipal gymnasium.