UPDATES WITH DEATH TOLL OF MILITANTS, HOSTAGES RECOVERY
By Roy Ramos and Hader Glang
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (AA) – Philippine military Wednesday killed at least four Daesh-linked militants, who attacked military outposts and held hostage dozens of people in a public school in the country’s southern region.
Earlier, dozens of Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) holed themselves up at a school in Pigcawayan town of North Cotabato province.
Pigcawayan Police Chief Inspector Realan Mamon told GMA News that more than 100 BIFF entered the school at 5.45 a.m. (2145 GMT) Wednesday.
Over 500 people from three villages in the town were forced to flee their homes to avoid being caught in the crossfire between troops and militants, GMA News quoted a police spokesman as saying.
According to military spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla Jr., four members of BIFF were killed in the operation.
Padilla said that two members of Citizen Armed Forces’ Geographical Unit were also wounded in the attack.
The operation was in progress as the BIFF fled under the cover of darkness, leaving behind hostages, he added.
Padilla confirmed that up to 30 hostages have been rescued.
Meanwhile, BIFF spokesman Abu Misry Mama told ABS-CBN News the school incident took place due to a fierce firefight with the government forces.
Mama denied the clashes with his group were related to the ongoing fight between the government forces and another Daesh-linked group — the Maute fighters. He added the BIFF strongly denounces actions of Maute group and said his group did not support them.
He said the clash with government forces were in retaliation to intensive shelling of BIFF strongholds.
The latest attack took place as government forces continue to wind down operations against Maute fighters in Marawi City.
The BIFF is said to be a breakaway faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). It had opposed the MILF’s peace agreement with the government.
The number of people killed in the ongoing firefight between government troops and Daesh-linked fighters in Marawi City in the southern island of Mindanao has risen to 310, a military official said on Friday.
Lt. Col. Emmanuel Garcia, commander of the Armed Forces’ 4th Civil Relations Group, said 225 Maute armed group members, 59 security personnel and 26 civilians have been killed since the outbreak of hostilities on May 23; 1,629 civilians were also rescued by troops, local government units and civil society organizations.
President Rodrigo Duterte declared a martial law in Mindanao on May 23 in response to clashes in Marawi City that began when police and military made efforts to arrest Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon, the so-called emir of Daesh in Southeast Asia.
