BIFF: We’re using SAF guns vs Army

KIDAPAWAN CITY – Weapons taken from police commandos slain on Jan. 25 in an operation to get international terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias “Marwan,” are now being used by renegade Moro guerrillas against Army soldiers who are on an offensive against the renegades.

The military is on a full scale offensive against members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) after President Aquino ordered a “relentless” hunt and operation against BIFF, a group formed by former members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Abu Misri Mama, spokesperson of BIFF, said one of the weapons that BIFF members used on the soldiers is a 90 RR recoilless rifle taken from Special Action Force (SAF) commandos. The 90 RR is a rocket launcher used mainly against tanks and other armored vehicles. It is shoulder-fired and is made mostly of aluminum.

A 90 RR that was taken from the fallen SAF commandos was used on an Army amphibian tank being used by the military in its operations against BIFF in a town in Maguindanao province, said Mama.

The tank was hit, according to Mama, forcing government soldiers to abandon it “in the middle of the road” in the village of Maitumaig in Datu Unsay town, Maguindanao, one of the sites of the ongoing gun battles between BIFF and the Army.

“The soldiers ran away,” said Mama in a phone interview.

The Philippine National Police is demanding the return of firearms and other equipment taken from the 44 SAF members who were killed in Mamasapano on Jan. 25 during a faulty plan to extricate commandos who were on a mission to get Marwan inside the MILF territory that had also been hosting communities of BIFF members and a third still unidentified armed Moro group.

MILF members had taken part in the clashes that killed the SAF men and the group returned so far 16 assault rifles that belonged to the SAF.

Thousands of civilians have fled their communities in the town of Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Maguindanao province, early Friday after BIFF men were seen massing in parts of the town.

“There was massive evacuation of civilians but there was no fighting,” said Capt. Jo-ann Petinglay, speaking for the 6th Infantry Division.

Petinglay said soldiers from the 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade have been deployed to the highway between Talayan and Datu Saudi Ampatuan, both in Maguindanao.

“The highway is passable, we have troops there manning the traffic flow because the civilians occupied the roadside,” Petinglay said.

She could not say how many families have evacuated.

She said the civilians reported to the Army the presence of armed BIFF men in their communities and decided to flee in anticipation of clashes between the guerrillas and the Army.

“No fighting, no military operation, the BIFF massing of troops forced these civilians to evacuate,” Petinglay told the Inquirer.

She said the highway remains passable. “We have Army road security,” she said.

According to Abraham Kadil, a commuter who saw the evacuation, an estimated 300 families are fleeing and taking shelter on the roadside.

“They were carrying carabaos, goats, TV sets,” said Kadil.

“It’s an exodus of people,” Kadil said. Edwin O. Fernandez and Karlos Manlupig, Inquirer Mindanao