BIFF leader killed in Maguindanao

COTABATO CITY – Government troops killed a senior militant commander whose group is fighting for a separate Muslim state in the southern Philippines, officials said Monday.

Military photos show the body of the slain BIFF leader Zukarno Guilil and the grenades recovered by troops. 

Maj. Gen. Juvymax Uy, commander of the 6th Infantry Division, said Zukarno Guilil, Chief of Staff of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, was killed in a clash in Ganta village in Shariff Mustapha town in the restive province of Maguindanao. 

He said Guilil was responsible for various attacks and bombings in Maguindanao and is wanted for a string of murders and arson. He was also a bomb expert. 

He said villagers allegedly tipped off the military on the presence of Guilil and that soldiers were quickly deployed to capture the militant leader. But fighting erupted when Guilil engaged security forces in a gun battle instead of surrendering peacefully. 

Uy said soldiers recovered two hand grenades from Guilil. He said security forces were pursuing other members of the BIFF and the Daulah Islamiyah whose leaders have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. 

“As part of the marching order of President Rodrigo Duterte, we are dedicated to putting an end to these terror groups,” Uy said. 

Most members of the BIFF and Daulah Islamiya were former fighters of the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front whose chieftain Murad Ebrahim is now the regional governor of the Muslim autonomous region after his group abandoned its armed struggle and signed a peace accord with Manila in 2014. (Mindanao Examiner)