2 killed, 7 wounded in BIFF attack in Maguindanao town
December 4, 2017 | 1:00am
The military believes the BIFF attack was meant to avenge the deaths of 30 militants killed in recent months. Google Earth
MAGUINDANAO, Philippines — Islamic State-inspired militants killed two villagers and left seven wounded in an attack in Shariff Aguak town in Maguindanao on Sunday night.
Four of those injured were children.
The fatalities, Unti Kamama, 60, and his 13-year-old grandson, Mohammad Kamama, died from multiple gunshot wounds.
Responding police and Army investigators said a soldier, PFC Clinton Rigor of the 40th Infantry Battalion, was also wounded in the incident.
Some 30 gunmen from the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters first attacked an Army detachment in Barangay Timbangan in Shariff Aguak on Sunday evening.
Another group of bandits also fired at nearby houses, killing the Kamamas and wounding the four children.
Also reported wounded were Aila Amor, Tukay Kamama and Ela Tayog.
The BIFF, which splintered from the MILF in 2010, uses the flag of the Islamic State — also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria — as its banner.
Maj. Gen. Arnel Dela Vega of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division said Wednesday the latest BIFF attack was meant to avenge the deaths of more than 30 members killed in recent offensives by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and units of 6th ID.
MILF forces have killed 27 militants in one of three BIFF factions, the one under Esmael Abdulmalik, in encounters from the last week of July to early September.
The MILF launched the offensive against Abdulmalik and his men after they attempted to hoist the ISIS flag in strategic areas in Maguindanao’s Datu Salibo and Shariff Saydona Mustapha towns.
More than ten BIFF gunmen under another faction under Imam Bongos were also reportedly killed in an operation last month by the Army’s 57th, 19th and 40th Infantry Battalions at the boundary of Maguindanao’s Datu Unsay and Shariff Aguak towns.
Senior Superintendent Agustin Tello, director of the Maguindanao police, said community elders in Shariff Aguak have confirmed that followers of Imam Bongos were behind the harassment of the Army detachment in Barangay Timbangan on Sunday night.
Abu Misry Mama, spokesman of the BIFF’s Bongos faction, said the attack was part of their continuing offensive against the police and the military.
Tello said Shariff Aguak Mayor Marop Ampatuan is now helping provide for the needs of villagers wounded in the attack.
Ampatuan said his office will also allocate funds for those recuperating in a hospital.
"I’m appealing to these armed groups not to roam in populated areas for innocent villagers not to get hurt," Ampatuan said.
The mayor said their municipal peace and order council will work to prevent a repeat of the incident.
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