MAGUINDANAO, Philippines - The military pounded on Monday dawn with cannons and mortar fire the enclaves of the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters at the marshy border of Maguindanao and North Cotabato as troops seek to arrest the group's leaders including Saudi-trained cleric Ameril Ombra Kato.
Local officials said the bombardment began midnight of Sunday, forcing hundreds of villagers to evacuate to safer areas.
Barangay leaders in Datu Piang, located in the east of the second district of Maguindanao, said exchanges of automatic gun fire and sporadic explosions of 40 MM shoulder-fire grenades have been heard in several areas in the municipality, causing panic among ethnic Moro villagers.
Col. Dickson Hermoso, spokesman of 6th ID, told reporters BIFF bandits had set off a powerful improvised explosive device along a road in Barangay Ulandang in Midsayap town in North Cotabato several hours before the troops launched their assault.
Local officials suspect the IED used in the Midsayap bombing was intended to attack passenger vehicles passing through the route, but exploded prematurely.
The BIFF is feared for their terror activities and banditry. The group is also despised for its excessive collection of “protection money†from peasant communities.
Hundreds of BIFF bandits were seen massing in the surroundings of the marshy borders of Pikit and Datu Piang early Sunday.
Most commanders of the BIFF, including Kato, are wanted for various offenses including multiple murders, robbery, and frustrated murders.
The 6th ID’s on-going “police actions†against the BIFF have reportedly been coordinated with the ceasefire committee of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
The government and MILF, under the 1997 Agreement on General Cessation of Hostilities, are to mutually cooperate in the interdiction of criminals and terrorists in flashpoint areas in the south.
The operation against the BIFF was led by the Army’s 40th and 7th Infantry Battalions, which are both component units of the 602nd Brigade.