Murad urged to surrender followers in SAF 44 killings

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MILF forces clash with BIFF in Mindanao

COTABATO CITY – Heavy fighting erupted between two rival rebel groups in the restive Muslim province of Maguindanao in southern Philippines where pro-ISIS militants are actively operating.

The 6^th Infantry Division on Friday has confirmed the clashes between Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) forces and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and said the ferocious fighting lasted 6 hours.

It said one BIFF member, Saudi Sabang, was killed in clashes which occurred Thursday in Pimbalakan village in Mamasapano town. “After six hours of exchanging of fires, the BIFF members withdrew towards Shariff Saydona Mustapha town in Maguindanao using motorized pump boat while others traversed by foot,” the army said, adding, there was no report of MILF casualties.

It was unclear what triggered the fighting, but both rebel groups are actively operating in the province. There was no immediate statement from the MILF, which signed an interim peace deal with the Aquino administration in 2014.

But Major General Cirilito Sobejana, the army division commander, said the “MILF leadership is determined to eradicate the peace spoilers and to defeat the threat group from doing terroristic activities in Central Mindanao.”

Sobejana said the continued support and cooperation of the MILF and the community will hasten and complement the ability of the Joint Task Force Central to counter the efforts of the radical extremist groups in sowing fear and violence in the region.

The BIFF, whose members were former MILF rebels, pledged allegiance to ISIS and is fighting for a separate Muslim homeland in Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner)

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Troops clash with militants in BIFF-MILF stronghold

COTABATO CITY – Army soldiers clashed with pro-ISIS militants in southern Philippines, but there were no reports of casualties on both sides.

The fighting broke out in Tukanalipao village in Maguindanao’s Mamasapano town, a known stronghold of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels.

Officials said troops from the 40^th Infantry Battalion were on a combat clearing operation when they ran into a group of BIFF members and a firefight ensued. The weekend clash lasted about 15 minutes with troops recovering four rifles.

There was no immediate statement from the BIFF which was also blamed by authorities along with the MILF for the cold-blooded killing of 44 police commandos in Tukanalipao village on January 25, 2015.

The commandos, members of the Special Action Force, were on a clandestine mission deep inside MILF territory to capture Malaysian bomber Zulkifli bin Hir, who was eventually killed in the operation.

Police commandos were on their way to re-join their more than 300 SAF members after killing Zulkifli and cutting off his finger for DNA analysis when MILF forces, aided by BIFF militants, attacked them and sparking daylong clashes.

At least 18 MILF and five BIFF were killed in the fierce fighting that the Aquino government claimed was a mis-encounter. Barely a month later, the MILF which signed an interim peace deal with Manila, surrendered at least 16 weapons it took from slain police commandos. The surrender of the weapons further bolstered accusations by lawmakers and human rights groups that MILF rebels had finished off wounded Special Action Force commandos and collected their guns, among others, in the village of Tukanalipao.

The weapons were handed over to the police, but SAF sources claimed the guns had been tampered and that many of its parts were either taken out or replaced with defective mechanism.

Because of the killings, lawmakers shelved the Bangasamoro Basic Law (BBL) until investigations into the deadly clashes between SAF and MILF is completed. The BBL was eventually passed in the current administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, but families of the slain commandos were still crying out for justice. The MILF said it will not surrender those involved in the slayings. (Mindanao Examiner)

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