MANILA, Dec 4, 2020 (BSS/XINHUA) – Around 50 suspected members of a
militant group has attacked a military camp in Maguindanao province in the
southern Philippines, the military said on Friday.
Lt. Col. Alaric Delos Santos, the spokesman of the military’s Western
Mindanao Command (Westmincom), said members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom
Fighters (BIFF) attacked an army camp in Datu Piang town at around 10:20 p.m.
on Thursday.
He said the militants withdrew after a 15-minute firefight. There were no
casualties on both sides, he added.
The spokesman said the military launched a pursuit operation minutes after
the fighting.
He said the fleeing militants torched a police car as they retreated. “They
saw an abandoned police car and burned it,” he said.
“We are on top of the situation,” Wesmincom commander Lt. Gen. Corleto
Vinluan said, adding the troops had cleared the area.
“This is just an isolated case. The BIFF left the area after they burned
the police patrol car,” he said, adding that an investigation was underway.
Vinluan said the BIFF is the target of ongoing military offensives in the
area, and it may have attempted the attack in Datu Piang to divert the
military’s attention.
The BIFF is one of the extremist groups based in the Mindanao region with
factions linked to the Islamic State terrorist network.
The BIFF, composed of around 200 to 300 men, are blamed for bombings and
other atrocities in Central Mindanao.