2 Marines, 6 bandits killed in BIFF retaliation attempt

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines — Two Marines were killed while two others were wounded as government forces foiled on Tuesday night an attempt by bandits to attack a farming enclave at the border of Maguindanao's neighboring Mamasapano and Sharif Saidona towns.

Barangay leaders said the bungled plan of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters to harass civilians and encircle an evacuation site in the area was meant to avenge the deaths of more than 40 BIFF gunmen killed in military offensives that started February 28.

The slain Marines, Sgt. Francis Flores and another, initially identified only as Cpl. Mias, both belonged to the 8th Marine Battalion, a component unit of the 1st Marine Brigade based in the seaside Lebak town in nearby Sultan Kudarat province.

Two other Marines, a certain Sgt. Tejada, and Pfc. Mandegoria, were wounded in the ensuing encounters, now undergoing medication at a hospital.

Local officials, among them key members of the municipal peace and order councils in Mamasapano and Sharif Saidona, confirmed the Marine-BIFF encounters, which also left six bandits dead.

"Five BIFF members were also seriously wounded in the skirmishes," said one of the sources.

Four of the six BIFF members killed by pursuing Marines were identified by community elders as Condanding Amir, Salik Manili, Usop Dimasangkay and Oting Inshua, all followers of Commander Mohamad Tambako.

Marine units had earlier cleared from BIFF occupation four guerilla enclaves in Mamasapano, including the group's training camp in Dasikil area in the same town, where recruits studied fabrication of improvised explosive devices and powerful roadside bombs that can be detonated from a distance.

The Marine-BIFF encounters late Tuesday erupted when bandits opened fire at a group of Marines out to validate the reported presence of gunmen converging in an open field, as if preparing for an attack.

The Marines launched the nighttime patrol after having been tipped off by Moro farmers on the presence of gunmen gathering suspiciously in a cornfield, connected by farm trails to schools in Barangay Libutan in Mamasapano where there are thousands of evacuees cramped in makeshift relief sites.

The BIFF is known for targeting civilians and public conveyances to retaliate for losses in encounters with the military.

An Army captain in the 6th Scout Ranger Company and three members of the 33rd Infantry Battalion were killed in a series of encounters with BIFF bandits in the southwest of Sharif Saidona town last Saturday.