Four Moro militants were killed and two soldiers were injured when Philippine government forces and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) members clashed again in Maguindanao province on Monday. The fighting began after the militants tried but failed to overrun two military installations. The dawn skirmishes sent civilians fleeing as they were observing the fasting month. Col. Dickson Hermoso told reporters that, anticipating attacks from the BIFF during the fasting month, the Army repulsed attempts to overrun their bases in two Maguindanao towns.
BIFF spokesman Abu Misry Mama admitted that they carried out the attack and would continue to do so until the military releases a man and his son, whom they seized in Datu Unsay town on July 3. However Hermoso denied that the military had abducted Mohammad Abdulkarim and his son.
Hermoso said two groups of BIFF militants separately attacked military detachments in Dumablas and Barangay Ganta villages, known as BIFF strongholds. He said about 50 heavily armed BIFF militants harassed the the army base in Dumablas at 12:15 a.m., triggering a two-hour firefight. Fatalities were taken by BIFF fighters as they retreated.
About an hour later, another group of BIFF militants attacked an Army patrol base in Ganta, sparking an hourlong skirmish.
Hermoso confirmed that two soldiers were wounded in the encounter. He also admitted that civilians from Ganta had fled following the BIFF attack.
The twin attacks came hours after government forces found and defused an improvised explosive device left on the roadside near an Army base in Datu Saudi.