COTABATO CITY – Armed jihadists attacked a village and torched 2 houses in the restive province of Maguindanao in the Muslim autonomous region in southern Philippines, officials said Tuesday.
Officials blamed the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters for the Christmas day attack on a remote village of Iginampong in Datu Unsay town, home to a minority tribe called Teduray.
Villagers were forced to flee their homes when jihadists started firing and then burned the houses before fleeing to the hills where military planes pursued and attacked them with rockets.
There was no report of civilian casualties, although the 6th Infantry Division – quoting unconfirmed intelligence information – insisted that the airstrike had killed 4 jihadists and wounded five others. Soldiers recovered not a single body at the area.
Other reports claimed that a group of BIFF also attacked an army detachment in Maitumaig village in the same town. The target of the offensive was the 57th Infantry Battalion. The 6th Infantry Division did not release any information on the attack. (With a report from Rhoderick Beñez.)
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