Suspected BIFF bombers killed in Tacurong City shootout

TACURONG CITY, Philippines — Police shot dead two suspected bombers before dawn on Monday as they were transporting an improvised explosive device.

Chief Superintendent Eliseo Rasco of Police Regional Office-12 said the two men were killed in a brief encounter with a police team manning a roadblock in Barangay EJC Montilla here.

The suspects were carrying a powerful improvised explosive device in their vehicle that police and Army personnel at a checkpoint in Isulan had tried to flag down. The vehicle changed direction and sped away before it reached the checkpoint.

They opened fire at police manning a chekpoint of Regional Mobile Force Battalion 12 at Barrio Dos, Tacurong City.

"This prompted the joint security forces to chase them until suspects were cornered at Kapingkong Road in Tacurong City where a firefight ensued between the operating team and the suspects which resulted to instantaneous death of the latter," PRO-12 said.

PRO-12 also said that the Sultan Kudarat Police Provincial Office had received information that an IED would be transported "within the areas of Tacurong City and Municipality of Isulan."

Police and military personnel at the checkpoints were on alert because of the information received.

Investigators found a 9-mm Beretta handgun and a KG9 machine pistol of the same caliber, as well as an IED ready for detonation and an Islamic State flag.

Rasco said there are indications that the slain bombers were members of the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, or BIFF, which uses the black flag.

The BIFF, operating in the fashion of the Islamic State, is blamed for all of the deadly bombings in central Mindanao in recent years, including the August 28 and September 2, 2018 IED attacks in nearby Isulan town.

Four were killed while more than 30 others were wounded in the bombings in Isulan, the capital of Sultan Kudarat province.

Two roadside bombings in Maguindanao

 Also on Monday morning, a soldier was injured in one of two roadside bombings at the boundary of Ampatuan and Datu Hoffer towns in Maguindanao.

Hundreds of motorists and commuters were stranded after authorities closed the stretch of the highway where the bombs went off to enable ordnance experts to investigate the scene freely.

Chief Superintendent Graciano Mijares of the Police Regional Office-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao said two improvised explosive devices were detonated one after another using remote-controlled triggers.

No one was hurt in the first blast, heard at exactly 6:00 a.m. Monday, followed by another more than 20 minutes later.

A soldier in a team dispatched to scour the sides of the highway at the boundary of Barangays Labu-labu in Datu Hofer and in Decalungan in Ampatuan after the first roadside bomb exploded was hurt in the second explosion.

The injured soldier was immediately rushed to a hospital nearby.

6th ID: BIFF behind bombings

Capt.Arvin Encinas, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said they are certain the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters was responsible for the two IED attacks.

The group, which operates in the fashion of the Islamic State, suffered heavy losses in encounters with units of 6th ID in the past six months.

The BIFF is feared for venting ire on non-military targets to avenge the deaths of members killed in clashes with pursuing soldiers.