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CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (MindaNews / 25 March) – Philippine Army troops killed an alleged ranking member of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) during an encounter in Maguindanao del Sur last Friday.
Brig. General Jose Vlademir Cagara, commander of the Army’s 1st Brigade Combat team, said troops killed Abu Halil, a training officer of the BIFF-Karialan faction and brother of Khadafi Abdulatif, the faction’s chief of staff.
Cagara said the encounter between the soldiers and the undetermined number of Islamic militants lasted for 30 minutes in Sitio Binakuyan, Barangay Salbu in Datu Saudi Ampatuan town.
He said after the BIFF members retreated, the soldiers searched the encounter site and found the body of Halil. An M-16 Armalite rifle with four magazines were also found beside him.
The encounter was located some 18 kilometers from Datu Hoffer Ampatuan town where BIFF-Dawlah Islamiyah, which is classified by the military as a terrorist group, killed four soldiers last March 17.
The military said the BIFF-Karialan faction “was at first not aligned” with the Dawlah Islamiyah, another BIFF faction under Esmail Abubakar alias Commander Bungos, but that day joined forces in carrying out the ambush on the four soldiers. (Froilan Gallardo / MindaNews)
