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26Dec17


4 BIFF bandits killed after airstrike in Maguindanao


Four members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) were killed and five others injured after the military launched an airstrike at Datu Unsay, Maguindanao, on Monday night.

The area was attacked by the BIFF bandits an hour or so earlier.

Capt. Arvin Encinas, spokesman for the Philippine Army's 6th Infantry Division, said community members in Datu Unsay reported to the military the attack conducted by the BIFF at 9:40 p.m. on Monday, Christmas Day.

He added that the airstrike was launched an hour or so after the attack by the BIFF terrorists, who burned two houses made from light materials in a Teduray community at Sitio Makon, Barangay Iginampong, Datu Unsay.

"Civilian residents of the community fled to Sitio Bagong of the village for safety and reported the incident to the nearest Army detachment," Encinas told reporters in a text message on Tuesday.

Based on intelligence reports collected from the ground, he said the response of the military resulted in the deaths of four BIFF members and five others.

In a phone interview, Encinas assured that there were no civilian casualties during the airstrike since most of them were evacuated from the area where the bandits attacked.

"Yes, they were all rescued from the houses and we responded more or less than an hour after the attack was reported to us by our communities," Encinas also told The Manila Times.

"[The four dead] was the only report we got from our ground troops. That was also based on what they have monitored on the ground," he said.

[Source: By Dempsey Reyes, The Manila Times, 26Dec17]

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