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PHILIPPINES-TERRORISTS-KILLING
12 terrorists killed in fresh clashes in southern Philippines
MANILA, July 10, 2018 (BSS/Xinhua) – Twelve terrorists have been killed in
clashes with Philippine government security forces, bringing the death toll
of Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) to 57 in the ongoing offensive
in the southern Philippines that started on June 1.
The military said on Tuesday that eight were killed during a clash on
Sunday in the villages of Shariff Saydona Mustapha town in Maguindanao
province in the central Mindanao. Four others were killed on the same day in
a separate clash in another part of town.
On Sunday, Brigadier General Cirilito Sobejana of the Army’s 6th Infantry
Division based in Maguindanao province, said the army has so far launched
“sustained military operations” against the BIFF, an extremist group with
links to Islamic State fighters.
There are up to 400 BIFF terrorists operating in central Mindanao, he
said.
BIFF members are mostly disgruntled former members of the larger insurgent
group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) which signed a peace accord with
the government.
The BIFF, established in 2010 by former MILF commander Ameril Umbra Kato
who died of a heart attack in 2015, is among the armed groups in Mindanao
that pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria a few years
ago.
BSS/XINHUA/FI/ 1547 hrs