COTABATO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / July 13, 2013) – At least 7 Moro rebels and soldiers were killed and 4 more wounded in fierce fighting on Saturday in the southern Philippines, the army said.
It said rebels attacked soldiers travelling in a truck on a highway in Guidulungan town in Maguindanao province. The ambush sparked a fire fight between troops from the 2nd Mechanized Battalion and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.
The Western Mindanao Command which has jurisdiction over military forces in Maguindanao issued no statement about the fighting.
Col. Dickson Hermoso, a spokesman for the 6th Infantry Division, has confirmed the fighting and said the clash lasted about 15 minutes.
Hermoso, quoting army reports, said 5 rebels were killed in the clash and that soldiers recovered the bodies of the slain gunmen.
“The slain soldiers and the wounded are now in Camp Siongco Station Hospital in 6th Infantry Division. Their names are withheld (from the public) pending notification of their next of kin,” he told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
He said troops were pursuing the BIFF gunmen who had clashed earlier this month with military forces in Maguindanao and North Cotabato provinces.
The BIFF is led by Ameril Umra Kato, a former leader of the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which is currently negotiating peace with Manila.
Kato broke away with the MILF after accusing its chieftain Murad Ebrahim of abandoning their secessionist war in Mindanao, and formed his own group which is composed of mostly MILF rebels. (Mindanao Examiner)
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