Explosives found in captured BIFF camp
CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao (PNA) – A major camp of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters ( BIFF) fell into government hands, after 24 days of military offensives which were occasionally backed by air strikes, the Army here said yesterday.
However, clearing operations were still being undertaken due to the presence of booby traps left by fleeing Moro bandits in a well-fortified stronghold in Barangay Tee, Datu Salibo municipality in Maguindanao.
According to Sixth Infantry Division Commander Maj. Gen. Edmundo Pangilinan, the successful offensive was marred by the death of PFC Jury Catalan of the 57th Infantry Battalion. He was killed when an improvised bomb exploded while his team was conducting clearing operations.
Pangilinan described the surroundings of the BIFF bailiwick as a virtually “mine field” with undetermined number of ordnance that was left by the outlaws before they fled.
“The improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were obviously for government forces. Bombs littered the village,” according to Lt. Colonel Ambrosio Rustia, 57th IB chief.
The military believed the BIFF fighters fled deep into the marshland and toward the borders of Maguindanao and North Cotabato, leaving its former camp laden with bombs. Barangay Tee has about 300 households.
“As of now, it is still a very dangerous area for civilians return home to. The bombs cannot be seen by the naked eye,” Pangilinan told reporters in Filipino.
On Monday, Army bomb experts from the Philippine Army main headquarters have arrived to help locate the IEDs in Barangay Tee before civilians will be allowed to return home.
The military could not say how many BIFF fighters were killed in the 24 days that soldiers engaged the bandits in law enforcement operations which started when the BIFF harassed a private construction company conducting dredging operations on Butilen river as part of a flood control project.
The military did not issue casualty figure on the side of the Moro armed men but admitted it lost three soldiers in the conflict. At least 18 others were slightly injured, mostly by roadside bombs.
Pangilinan on Monday honored the wounded infantrymen, awarding them with medals for bravery.
The BIFF bombings also killed five civilians, including the town treasurer of Datu Salibo, when a roadside bomb went off in Datu Saudi Ampatuan highway.
Improvised bombs with the “signatures” of the BIFF were also set off in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Guindulungan, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Datu Hofer and Shariff Aguak, all in Maguindanao and in Pikit and Aleosan in North Cotabato.
BIFF spokesperson Abu Misri Mama said his comrades have lied low, trying to recover for more offensives against the military.
He said only one BIFF member was killed and two wounded in the fighting with the Army. He boosted that 20 soldiers were killed and three military armored vehicle destroyed by BIFF.
Capt. Joann Petinglay, 6th ID spokesperson, laughed off Mama's claim, saying it was clearly a defense mechanism statement by propagandist that refuses to accept defeat.
She admitted though that armored personnel carriers were hit by bullets but not destroyed.