Troops kill 4 BIFF members in Maguindanao clash

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines – Four members of the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) were killed while a soldier was wounded in an encounter in Rajah Buayan town late Sunday, the military said.

Col. Dickson Hermoso, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said BIFF bandits attacked a military detachment in Barangay Sapakan in Rajah Buayan, provoking an hour-long firefight.

Hermoso said the bandits also attacked a village, where majority of residents are members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

The villagers have confirmed that four bandits were killed in the BIFF’s ensuing encounters with combatants of the 45th Infantry Battalion and local MILF forces.

Hermoso said the wounded soldier is still confined in a hospital, but he is already "out of danger.”

He said responding combatants of the 45th IB, which covers Rajah Buayan and nearby towns, fired 81-millimeter mortars to drive away the BIFF bandits that attacked Barangay Sapakan.