BIFF continues to harass military detachments in Maguindanao

Members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF). INQUIRER MINDANAO FILE PHOTO

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters launched mortar attacks on two military detachments in Maguindanao on Friday.

“They fired from a distance,” said Colonel Dickson Hermoso, 6th Infantry Division spokesperson. “They are continuously harassing our troops on the ground.”

To spare civilians from the attacks, Hermoso said, the 61st and 62nd Army Division Reconnaissance Companies were repositioned in Barangay Ganta in Shariff Saydona and Barangay Damablas in Datu Piang, both in Maguindanao.

The two areas were former BIFF strongholds captured by the 45th Infantry Battalion last June.

After the capture of the camp where a bomb making facility was also found, the 6th Infantry Division set up detachments in the area.

“We relocated or repositioned our troops because they were near civilian communities and their lives are endangered when the BIFF harass our troops,” Hermoso told reporters.

Last Friday, the BIFF fired rockets and mortars toward the two detachments in what Hermoso said was an attempt by the rebels to drive away the military in order to retake their camp.

He said since the capture of the BIFF camp in Barangay Ganta, the guerrillas have broken into smaller groups and fled toward the Liguasan Marsh.

But the rebels return occasionally to try to retake the camp, he said.

Every time the BIFF rebels harass military detachments in Maguindanao, civilians are forced to evacuate for fear of getting caught in the crossfire.

About 500 families have fled to nearby villages since Friday night’s mortar barrages.

“They (BIFF) were just making noise, they launched attacks and then fled,” Hermoso said, adding that the Army suffered no casualties.

Abu Misry Mama, speaking for the BIFF, admitted they launched the harassment.

“We will continue to do so because we want them out of Maguindanao,” Mama said by phone.