Cotabato villager killed in new BIFM attack

COTABATO CITY, Philippines  – Members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement (BIFM) led by Ameril Umbra Kato killed a villager and wounded a soldier and a government militiaman as they attacked an Army checkpoint in Pikit, North Cotabato Wednesday night. 

The incident was preceded by the death on Tuesday of a four-year-old girl, Asnayra Usman, when unidentified men fired at an evacuation site in Datu Saudi, Maguindanao.

Inspector Elias Dandan, Pikit police chief, said the BIFM members were en route to the nearby Malitubog-Maridagao area when they spotted a team of soldiers and militiamen manning a checkpoint in Barangay Inog-og and, without warning, opened fire with assault rifles and B-40 anti-tank rockets. 

A militiaman, Rafael Palomar, 29, and Pfc. Jose Morales of the Army’s 7th Infantry Battalion, were wounded in the ensuing firefight. 

Police and Army reinforcements managed to drive the BIFM men away, even wounding seven of them, according to villagers.

The fleeing rebels opened fire at houses, hitting a civilian, Anwer Langalin, who died while being treated for gunshot wounds in a local hospital.

Last Monday, BIFM members were sighted at marshlands at the boundary of Aleosan and Pikit towns. Their presence forced villagers to flee their homes.

Pikit Mayor Datu Sumulong Sultan confirmed the evacuation, but gave assurance that local officials were working with the police, the military and local commanders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to prevent the BIFM men from closing in.