Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 30) — A soldier and nine members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) were killed as government forces continued offensives against the militant groups in Maguindanao province.
The military’s Western Mindanao Command (WesMinCom) in a statement on Tuesday said Sergeant Ahmad Mahmood died on July 25, as the combat operations kicked off against the BIFF and its Abu Turaife faction in Barangay Dasawao, Shariff Saydona Mustapha.
The government condoled with the soldier’s family, but stressed that troops are now beefing up the campaign against the BIFF, which the military tags as terrorists.
The WesMinCom said nine local terrorists were killed in a series of focused military operations against the BIFF and the Abu Turaife group since July 25.
On July 27, another soldier was wounded in a 10-minute firefight with the bandits, also in Barangay Dasawao.
The BIFF, a breakaway group of the Muslim rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and its Abu Turaife faction are among the threats cited by President Rodrigo Duterte in requesting Congress to allow Mindanao martial law to remain in place until yearend.
National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon said he will recommend another extension of military rule, until December 2020, because of the sustained rebellion in the island region.
Duterte first declared martial law in Mindanao in May 2017 as government forces fought with terrorists in Marawi City, capital of Lanao del Sur. More than a thousand were killed, mostly terrorists, during the five-month war that ended October 2017. Congress has since granted all three requests for an extension, as the administration argued the need for military rule to quell the rebellion in Mindanao.
