Government troops have launched intensified counter-offensives against elements of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in Maguindanao to regain control of the Tacurong-Cotabato Highway where sporadic harassments are still being conducted by the Ameril Umbra
Kato-led group.
Col. Mayoralgo dela Cruz, commander of the Army’s 1st Mechanized Brigade, said yesterday that his troops are continuously clearing three barangays in Datu Unsay portion of the Tacurong-Cotabato Highway where elements of the BIFF are continuously conducting atrocities.
As of press time yesterday, Dela Cruz said that the highway remains closed to private motorists as clearing operations continue amid sporadic mortar shelling and sniper fires coming from the BIFF.
“We are now on our counter-offensive to totally retake the highway,” said Dela Cruz, stressing that only three barangays along the highway in Datu Unsay town are affected by sporadic harassment from the BIFF.
“The highway is still closed but clearing operations are continuing,” added Dela Cruz.
“These are deliberate actions to counter the harassments from these lawless elements,” he also said.
According to Dela Cruz, there has been no additional casualty on the government side except for the lone fatality and two wounded soldiers as a result of a mortar fire at the brigade headquarters.
Dela Cruz said that two soldiers were also wounded during clearing operations.
On Monday, more or less 300 members of the BIFF, a breakaway faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), launched simultaneous attacks against 10 military installations in Maguindanao province.
The BIFF, founded by renegade MILF commander Ameril Umbra Kato, also toppled electric posts using chain saw, bringing power outages in 11 municipalities in the province.
These were launched a day before the 30th exploratory talks between the government of the Philippines and the MILF in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) maintained that the attacks wll not affect the peace negotiations.
Kato was among the rogue MILF commanders who waged massive atrocities in Central Mindanao in August 2009 after the Supreme Court junked the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain between the MILF and the government.
Kato eventually broke away from the MILF and established the BIFF, estimated by government authorities with more or less 500 members.