Filipino terrorist instructor killed in encounter with Army troops
Terrorist was trainer for Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters terror group.
MAGUINDANAO DEL SUR: A ranking member of a Filipino terror group was killed during an encounter with the Philippine Army in the southern province of Maguindanao del Sur on Friday (Mar. 22)
Brigadier General Jose Vladimir Cagara, the commander of the Army’s 1st Brigade Combat Team (1BCT), in a statement, said the encounter between his troops and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) terror group took place in Datu Saudi Ampatuan district at about 2.25am.
He identified the deceased as Abu Halil, a training officer of the BIFF - Karialan faction and brother of Khadafi Abdulatif, the factions’ chief of staff.
Cagara said the encounter with the undetermined number of terrorists in Sitio Binakuyan, Lower Salbu village, lasted for 20 minutes.
After the enemy retreated, the soldiers immediately conducted clearing operations before they found Halil's body left behind by his comrades.
The operating troops also seized an M16 rifle, four magazines, bandoliers, ammunition and other items.
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Major General Alex S. Rillera, the commander of 6th Infantry Division and Joint Task Force Central, in the statement, said although this was a success on the part of the government to protect the people, he was also saddened by the fate of the people who were victims of the wrong ideology.
"First, I congratulate the troops of the 1BCT for this successful operation, however I continue to call on those who have been victims of the circumstance to return to the government so that what happened to Halil will not happen to you", said Rillera.
The Karialan faction was previously reported to be not aligned with the Islamic State terror group, but a Karialan spokesman recently said that they had combined forces with another BIFF faction, the Bungos faction, which is aligned with the Islamic State, in carrying out a fatal ambush on soldiers on March 17.
Before that, a police official said the Hassan Group, a pro-Islamic State terror outfit, and the BIFF, were responsible for the fatal ambush that killed four soldiers without saying which BIFF faction was involved.
The police official and Karialan spokesman’s statements indicated one of two things - that three different groups - the Hassan Group, the Karialan and Bungos factions - carried out the ambush in Datu Hoffer Ampatuan district or it was actually the two BIFF factions that fatally attacked the soldiers without the Hassan Group being involved.
SEA MILITANCY is in the midst of getting clarifications from Philippine authorities on the matter.
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Clashes between terror groups and government troops and militias have been escalating in the southern Philippines since last year, analysts have said.
Scores of terror groups’ leaders and dozens of terrorists, along with some civilians including a baby, were killed in the encounters.
The Maute Group, another pro-Islamic State group, carried out a bombing attack on a Catholic mass in Lanao del Sur province last December that killed four people and injured dozens of others.
Operations by the Army later neutralised scores of militants involved in the bombing and killed its mastermind.