BIFF, MILF fighters clash in Maguindanao

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines - A member of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) was killed while two others were wounded Monday in a two-hour firefight with guerillas of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Pagalungan, Maguindanao.

The hostilities erupted when members of the outlawed BIFF, led by Gani Saligan, attacked from different directions in Barangay Kalbugan in Pagalungan.

The MILF members, led by Commanders Falcon and Nayang Timan, returned fire and engaged the bandits in a running firefight, killing one of them and wounding two others.

Falcon and Timan both belong to the MILF's 108th Base Command.

The group of Saligan and MILF members in Barangay Kalbugan are squabbling for control of strategic areas in the vast Liguasan Delta, which separates the uplands in Maguindanao and North Cotabato.

Saligan and his men are based near M'lang town in west of North Cotabato.

Capt. Jo-Ann Petinglay, spokesperson of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, confirmed the encounter but could not ascertain if civilians were displaced by the hostilities.

"That is something we are still validating through our units there," Petinglay said.

Petinglay said local officials in Pagalungan and in Pikit, North Cotabato are now trying to defuse the tension in the affected area.

Barangay Kalbugan is one of the known gateways to the Liguasan Delta, a known haven of bandits, kidnappers and religious extremists supporting the brigand BIFF.