6 Maguindanao villagers wounded after BIFF mortar round targeting Army hits house

KORONADAL CITY—Six civilians were wounded on Sunday (Dec. 13) in a mortar attack by Islamic State (IS) followers on a military detachment which found its mark near a house instead in the town of Datu Salibo, Maguindanao province, according to officials.

Lt. Col. Anhouvic Atilano, spokesperson for the military’s 6th Infantry Division, said on Monday (Dec. 14) that heavily-armed members of Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) attacked the Bravo Company of the 6th Infantry Division in Datu Salibo, resulting in a clash that left a soldier wounded.

The BIFF members, who had sworn allegiance to IS, fired grenade launchers and lobbed homemade bombs at the Army camp, said Atilano. Soldiers defended their position using artillery fire which eventually drove the terrorists away.

Capt. Abdulbasit Kulod, town police chief, said six civilians, two of them children aged six and eight, were wounded when a mortar fired by BIFF hit their house during the exchange of gunfire.

The wounded civilians—Hamdan Kusain, Mama Nano, Haris Abdulkasim, two children and another woman—suffered shrapnel wounds and were rushed to a hospital.

Atilano said the Army would investigate the wounding of civilians. He added that while the Army fired 105 howitzers, these were calculated to avoid civilian areas.

Last week, soldiers arrested in nearby Datu Hofer town, also in Maguindanao, seven BIFF men who introduced themselves as members of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The arrests followed a BIFF siege in Datu Piang, another Maguindanao town.

TSB