Military locked in firefight with ISIS-inspired BIFF
MAGUINDANAO— The military on Friday bombarded militants who were about to attack soldiers in Guindulungan town in an attempt to avenge the deaths of companions in clashes with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Four members of the Islamic State-inspired Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, identified only as Dimas, Sanggutin, Usop and Yasser, were confirmed injured in the artillery barrage, according to local officials.
Captain Arvin Encinas, public affairs officer of the Army's 6th Infantry Division, said yesterday that the preemptive artillery strike was launched after military units in Guindulungan learned of the suspicious convergence of followers of Imam Bongos in a secluded barangay there.
Imam Bongos is leader of one of three factions in the BIFF, all operating in the fashion of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
His men attacked after dawn yesterday the combined personnel of the Army's 37th Infantry Battalion and 6th ID's 64th Division Reconnaissance Company dispatched to hunt them at Barangay Muslim in Guindulungan, sparking gunfights that spilled over to nearby villages.
There were no reports of casualties in the ensuing firefights yet but the sound of gunfire and explosions that reverberated through the villages caused panic among residents.
Senior police intelligence officials said followers of Imam Bongos planned to harass Army detachments in Guindulungan on Friday night, but scattered away when 105 Howitzer cannon projectiles started falling on their positions.