BIFF attacks Army detachment in Maguindanao; 2 killed, 7 hurt

Civilians wounded on Sunday night’s BIFF attack are being treated at a government hospital in Shariff Aguak town in Maguindanao. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

SHARIFF AGUAK, MAGUINDANAO – Two civilians were killed while seven others were injured, including a soldier, when militants belonging to the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) attacked an Army detachment in Maguindanao on Sunday night.

Police provincial director Sr. Supt. Agustin Tello said among the wounded were four pre-school Moro children living near the 40th Infantry Battalion military detachment in Barangay Timbangan, Shariff Aguak.

The BIFF, reportedly under Commander Bungos, who, according to the military, has been drawing inspiration from the Islamic State (ISIS), used rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles in the attack, which occurred 9 p.m. Sunday, but failed to overrun the detachment.

Killed were Unti Kamama, 60, and his 13-year-old grandson, Mohammad Kamama. They sustained multiple gunshot wounds and shrapnel injuries from rifle grenades. A soldier identified as PFC Clinton Rigor was also injured in the attack.

Major Gen. Arnel Dela Vega, commander of the 6th Infantry Division, said on Monday that the BIFF rampage was meant to avenge the deaths of more than 30 of its members who were killed in a joint army and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) operations in September, as the MILF rejected plans of IS militants to hoist ISIS black flags in their areas. /kga