Army claims seizing BIFF camp in Maguindanao town

Members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) INQUIRER File Photo

DATU PIANG, Maguindanao, Philippines—Government troops claimed they overran a stronghold of breakaway Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in the village of Ganta in Shariff Saidona town Wednesday.

Col. Dickson Hermoso, spokesperson for the military’s 6th Infantry Division, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that BIFF members abandoned their camp in Barangay Ganta as soldiers continued pounding their position with mortars and air assault.

The camp, with fortified houses, a training facility and running trenches, was used by rebels in making their bombs, Hermoro said.

“We recovered 12 bodies at the site. There were traces also of new burial grounds,” he added.

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