BIFF member gunned down in Pikit clash

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines --- Soldiers gunned down a member of the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF)  in another encounter past 4 p.m. Sunday in Paidu Pulangi District in Pikit town in the province.

The incident was preceded by last week’s series of firefights between BIFF bandits and Army combatants in the same area, leaving nine rebels dead and two soldiers wounded.

Captain Tony Bulao, spokesman of the Army’s 602nd Brigade, said the latest encounter in Paidu Pulangi was triggered by an attempt by BIFF bandits to surround a farming enclave in the area.

Responding members of the Army’s 7th Infantry Battalion managed to drive the bandits away after engaging them in an hour-long running gunbattle.

Barangay officials said the bandits that arrived at the farming village carrying assault rifles and shoulder-fire anti-tank rockets were supposed to mulct “protection money” from local farmers.

Private engineering firms and officials of the National Irrigation Administration engaged in the Malitubog-Maridagao irrigation project in the province had earlier complained of attempts by the BIFF to collect some P3-million worth of monthly protection from them.

Bulao said the 602nd Brigade will embark on a tactical operation against the BIFF if the latter's forces in the province do not stop from harassing the private contractors and the NIA personnel.