Update
CAMP SIONGO, Maguindanao – Four persons – including the treasurer of a Maguindanao town and his son – were killed when a bomb was set off by Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) gunmen on Tuesday evening, the military said Wednesday.
Lt. Colonel Warlito Limet, 2nd Mechanized Infantry Battalion commander, said the victims were on a Mitsubishi Delica van and were instantly killed when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off at 10:30 p.m. along a road in Barangay Lower Salbu in Datu Saudi Ampatuan town.
Three other passengers of the van were hurt and rushed by government forces to the Cotabato Regional and Medical Center in Cotabato City, he said.
The victims were later identified as Datu Salibo town treasurer Caloy Macabangen, his son Kenken, Alex Apas and Bensar Agapay.
Limet said the victims were from Cotabato City and were heading toward Datu Salibo town but initially backed off due to an intense fire fight between soldiers and the BIFF. Then, the explosion suddenly occurred, he said.
The clash was the latest in the series of violence between soldiers and BIFF forces in the province.
Earlier in the day, BIFF gunmen also harassed Army detachments in Barangay Tee and Barangay Sambolawan, both in Datu Salibo, Maguindanao, which left two soldiers slightly injured.
Capt. Joann Petinglay, 6th Infantry Division spokesperson, said about 30 BIFF men simultaneously attacked the Army positions at about 4 a.m. triggering an intense fire fight until 7 a.m.
“The number of BIFF attackers was rising and used the marshland as launching pad, making it difficult for our troops to fire back, so we need to use our air assets,” Petinglay told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Two MG-520 attack helicopters had several sorties, pounding the BIFF with rockets for about an hour.
“I could not say at this time how many BIFF men were killed or injured,” she said.
Limet said the IED attack that killed Macabangen and the three other victims could have been aimed at government forces.
Since Feb. 5, when the BIFF started harassing a government dredging project in Barangay Butalo, Datu Salibo, Maguindanao, one soldier was killed, six were hurt, including an Army captain, Petinglay said.
Abu Misri Mama, speaking for the BIFF, said their members were indeed involved in Tuesday morning’s skirmishes and that they destroyed at least three armored personnel carriers.
“Our fighters destroyed three tanks that is why the Army used attack helicopters,” Mama told the Inquirer in a phone interview.
“Five other soldiers were killed,” Mama added.
Petinglay denied Mama’s claim that three military tanks were destroyed. “Our military hardware were hit by bullets but not destroyed,” Petinglay said.
The two-week sporadic skirmishes between government forces and BIFF have also displaced more than 2,500 families in Datu Salibo’s five adjoining villages – where the fighting was concentrated. SFM