One killed as Muslim rebels stage attacks in Sultan Kudarat

COTABATO, Philippines (Xinhua) - A member of renegade group Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) was killed after they staged simultaneous attacks in southern Philippines yesterday, a military official said today.

Colonel Dickson Hermoso, spokesman of the Philippine Army's 6th Infantry Division, said BIFF members opened fire on farmers harvesting their crops in Katigo village, President Quirino town in Sultan Kudarat province at 3:35 p.m. Sunday.

Hermoso said government militias in the area fought back. The firefight resulted in the displacement of hundreds of families.

In nearby Tulunan town, around 100 BIFF men raided a banana plantation and burned two heavy equipment.

Senior Inspector Ronny Cordero, town police commander, said security personnel of Dalinanas Banana Plantation and civilian volunteers killed a rebel and recovered one AK-47 rifle.

The BIFF claimed responsibility for the separate attacks. The group's spokesman, Abu Misry Mama, said the attacks were in retaliation for the Philippine military's alleged abduction of a farmer and his son in Datu Unsay town, Maguindanao province.

The renegade group is a breakaway faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the biggest Muslim separatist group in Mindanao which signed a peace agreement with the Philippine government in March.