COTABATO CITY – Two army soldiers were wounded in a clash with rebels in Maguindanao province that coincided on Monday’s State of the Region Address in the Muslim autonomous region.
Security officials confirmed the fighting and said patrolling troops were searching for improvised explosives in the town of Shariff Saydona when some 30 Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters attacked them, sparking fierce clashes in the village of Nabundas.
Captain Jo Ann Petinglay, a spokeswoman for the 6th Infantry Division, said two soldiers from the 45th Infantry Battalion were wounded in the fighting and that also left a still undetermined number of rebel casualties.
“Two platoons of soldiers while conducting security patrol in the area – which was reported to have IEDs – were fired upon by some 30 members of the BIFF under (rebel commanders) Bisaya and Sanad. As a result, two members of the 45th Infantry Battalion were wounded and an undetermined (number of casualties) on the side of the enemy,” she told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
Petinglay said more troops were sent to the town to pursue the rebels, blamed by police and military authorities in the spate of terrorism in the restive region.
“The 6th Infantry Division condemns these attacks which create fear and terror among innocent civilians,” she said.
Petinglay also called on the local governments and former rebels groups Moro National Liberation Front and Moro Islamic Liberation Front to keep watch over the security situation in their areas and help the government in stopping terrorism by providing information to authorities.
“We are working closely with the police authorities to trample these groups and we assure the public that the government will always be on top of the situation. We will never allow them to succeed,” she said.
The latest attack occurred just 2 days after two separate blasts left one civilian injured in Cotabato City, the seat of the Muslim autonomous region.
Earlier on Saturday, an explosion occurred along the highway in Shariff Aguak town in Maguindanao, one of five provinces under the autonomous region. No one was reported hurt or killed in the blast and the army said the explosion was not strong enough. But a grenade attack later in the day in Cotabato wounded a 22-year old civilian Raisma Baraquir. The attack targeted a dump truck that passed along Sinsuat Avenue, the military said.
The BIFF, which recently pledged allegiance with jihadist group ISIS, is fighting for Muslim independence in Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner, with a report from Mark Navales)
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