Security forces killed three suspected members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters in a raid in their lair in Shariff Saydona Mustapha, Maguindanao.
Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, chief of the Armed Forces Western Mindanao Command, said the cadavers of the three slain BIFF members were recovered during a clearing operation in Barangay Pusao.
An assault rifle and a .45-pistol were recovered in the area.
Sobejana said the operation stemmed from intelligence reports about the presence of BIFF fighters in the area.
The operation was also an offshoot of the combat operation in Barangay Pamalian in the same town where three M16 rifles, three improvised explosive devices, and six improvised hand grenades were seized.
Sobejana said three of the BIFF fighters died during the operation.
“After clearing and securing the area, operating troops coordinated with the barangay officials to identify the recovered bodies and subsequently facilitate the proper burial of the slain BIFF fighters,” said Sobejana.
The BIFF is a breakaway faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. The group is composed of at least two top commanders of the MILF and their men who support independence rather than peace agreement with the government.
The BIFF was tagged in several bomb attacks and ambushcades in Maguindanao.
“These recoveries connote operational success while our troops on the ground build up their focused military operations to hunt and pound the remaining terrorists in Central Mindanao,” said Sobejana. (Aaron Recuenco)
