BIFF attack not connected to Marawi siege

MANILA, Philippines — The government on Friday assured the public that the attack of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) bandits on a town in North Cotabato is not connected to the situation in Marawi City.

On Wednesday, some 300 BIFF members laid siege to Barangays Simsiman and Malagkit in Pigcawayan, North Cotabato, provoking a gunfight with community watchmen and local militia.

Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said that the BIFF attack on Pigcawayan was the group's attempt to recover from setbacks in ongoing operations of the Armed Forces of the Philippines' 6th Infantry Division.

Brig. Gen. Gilbert Gapay, deputy commander of the Eastern Mindanao Command, supported Abella's statement and said that the BIFF attack was due to its allied militants' losing position.

READ: BIFF take 3 families from North Cotabato town

"What happened in Pigcawayan recently was in retaliation of and somehow a diversionary attack resulting from the major setbacks they have been experiencing in their stronghold in Maguindanao," Gapay said at a televised press briefing in Davao City.

As for the warning of the BIFF that their next target is President Rodrigo Duterte, Gapay said that such pronouncement is desperate.

Gapay added that the military has intensified its operations against the BIFF, which is complimentary to their operations against the Maute group in Marawi City.

"The Armed Forces is not only operating in Marawi but we have several operations ongoing all over Mindanao addressing various terrorist groups and one of this is the BIFF," Gapay said.

Alliance between Maute and BIFF

Gapay, however, admitted that the Maute group and the BIFF have connections. He noted that both local terror groups have sworn allegiance to ISIS.

He added that there is a possibility that the Maute group and the BIFF might work together.

"As far as tactical alliance is concerned, that is very possible and we have seen that in some operations wherein BIFF fighters are sending augmentation to not just Maute but also other local terrorist groups in the country," Gapay said.

The BIFF, however, is not a serious threat compared to the Maute group that government forces are currently facing in Marawi.

According to Gapay, government forces are doing well in containing the BIFF in their stronghold in Mindanao.

"Just like Maute, BIFF is also a target being a local terrorist group," Gapay said, adding that a military unit is tasked to address the BIFF threat.

"We will sustain our operations against the BIFF until they have been decimated," he added.

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