BIFF frees 9 teachers, 4 village officials

MANILA, Philippines - The remaining hostages of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in Midsayap, North Cotabato that included nine teachers were released by the rebels on Tuesday dawn, a military official said.

Philippine Army 7th Civil Relations Group commander Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc said in his Twitter account that the nine school teachers were freed around 4:45 a.m.

Four village officials were also released by the rebels.

9 school teachers and 4 village officials who were abducted by the BIFF in Midsayap, North Cotabato were released at 4:45am today.

— LtCol Harold Cabunoc (@HaroldCabunoc94) September 23, 2013

The released captives are now at the Amado Hospital in Midsayap town for medical check-up, according to the Armed Forces of the Philippines' Twitter account.

On Monday morning, a group of BIFF rebels opposed to peace talks with the government stormed Midsayap and seized several hostages while engaging troops in clashes that killed at least eight people and displaced hundreds of residents.

Read: Fighting erupts as BIFF attacks N. Cotabato

Four soldiers were killed while some of the freed hostages confirmed that they saw four dead rebels when they were released in Barangay Malingaw.

The BIFF is a breakaway group of the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which is engaged in the ongoing peace talks with the government.

The North Cotabato incident on Monday comes as government troops battle the last few dozen gunmen from the Moro National Liberation Front, which seized some villages and took more than 100 civilians hostage in Zamboanga City on September 9.

Around 40 Moro rebels holding around 20 hostages were still holed up in two areas in Zamboanga, according to military spokesman Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala.

It was not known if the attacks in Zamboanga City and North Cotabato were related but the leaders of the two groups have met at least once and both oppose the peace talks between the government and the MILF. 

The bandits freed past 1 a.m. Tuesday the  nine more hostages they snatched and used as shields for 16 hours to forestall a military counterattack while they plundered five districts in Midsayap town Monday.

The nine hostages were abandoned by their fleeing captors near a boat dock along a river at the border of Barangays Malingao and Sambulawan, both in Midsayap.

Midsayap Mayor Romeo Araña, chairman of the municipal peace and order council, said the nine teachers were among dozens prevented by members of the BIFF from leaving as they raided five villages in the municipality.

The teachers were among more than 20 people held hostage by bandits, 15 of them released just before dusk Monday through the efforts of Araña, North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza, and a member of the provincial board, Kelly Antao.

Combatants of the 40th Infantry Battalion found the nine teachers frantically wandering in the dark, disoriented and yelling for help.

Col. Dickson Hermoso, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said the victims were immediately turned over to Mendoza and Araña, who rushed them to a hospital for immediate medical examination.

Monday’s hostilities between  BIFF bandits started with a dawn attack on a detachment of militiamen in Barangay Rangaben in the southwest of Midsayap.

Armed villagers and the militiamen guarding the outpost engaged the attackers in an hour-long firefight, forcing them to reposition at Barangay Malingao and Pulumugen, where they took villagers at gunpoint and used them as shields to prevent responding soldiers and policemen from closing in.

The bandits, led by Abbas Kudanding, a henchman of BIFF chieftain Imam Ameril Ombra Kato, started retreating to a marsh at the border of Midsayap and Datu Piang, Maguindanao just before midnight Monday, leaving their hostages behind.

Barangay officials and evacuees have confirmed seeing the bandits carry four slain companions and eight others wounded.

Mendoza, who is overseeing the relief works for Midsayap residents dislocated by the BIFF attacks, said they have initially established six evacuation sites in neutral grounds, now housing about 2,000 evacuees.

Mendoza said tension has waned in the villages the BIFF attacked.

“But the police and military will continue with their clearing operations to check if all of the bandits have left,” Mendoza said.

Mendoza said she is grateful to local community elders and religious leaders for helping in the release efforts of dozens of villagers trapped in Monday’s gunfight between government forces and the BIFF. - with the Associated Press