ISULAN, SULTAN KUDARAT – Two Islamic militants and a soldier were killed after government forces encountered Monday some 100 members of the ISIS-inspired Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao.
Colonel Jose Narciso, 601st Infantry Brigade commander, said troops from the 57th Infantry Battalion, clashed with the BIFF rebels under Commander Salahuddin Hassan in a remote village of Barangay Satan, Shariff Aguak.
He said two rebels and a soldier were killed during the focused military offensive aimed to flush out the militants involved extortion activities.
“The military operation was launched following report from villagers who abhorred the extortion activities of the BIFF rebels,” Narciso said.
Troops recovered one M-14 automatic rifle and a caliber 50 Barrett rifle and several improvised explosive devices.
Captain Rodrigo Sinoy, 601st civil military operation officer, said troops have launched focused military operation to track down the fleeing rebels who withdrew towards the mountainous area of the village.
“Ground troops backed by air support were tracking down the BIFF rebels,’ Sinoy said.
He said troops brought the bodies of the two slain rebels to the police station in Shariff aguak town for identification before their burial in Muslim rites the following day. (Joseph Jubelag)