ABOUT 47 members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and their allies were reported killed and wounded while five improvised explosive devices and components were seized during a three-day operation in Datu Salibo, Maguindanao, an official said in a statement Sunday.
The offensive against the BIFF started on March 13 and ended on March 16, Western Mindanao Command spokesman Jo-ann Petinglay said.
The series of military operations, which included artillery and air strikes, was conducted by troopers from the Joint Task Force-Central, Petinglay said.
She made her statement even as President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday said it was not easy to target the Abu Sayyaf, the Maute Group and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters since they were hiding in places with a heavy civilian population.
“We have to go into selective targets. For example, if they are in the midst of populated areas or they are near where the habitation is quite high, we just cannot do it,” Duterte said before leaving for Myanmar and Thailand.
“That is what it takes us time to do it because we try to avoid hitting civilians. If there is no civilian, this has been over a long time ago,” Duterte said.
JTF-C head Brig. Gen. Arnel Dela Vega said an initial 21 terrorists were killed and another 26 wounded in their operations.
No casualties were reported among the pursuing government troops.
Five IEDs and many IED components were recovered in Tee village.
Dela Vega said the three-day offensive was designed to dislocate the forces under Muhammad Ali Bin Abdulrahman alias Muawiyah, allegedly a foreign terrorist; Salahuddin Hassan, a bomber trained by the latter, and Esmael Abdulmalik alias Abu Toraype, the Dawlah Islamiyah Maguindanao founder and a BIFF brigade commander.
Validations are being made on the ground on the persistent reports that these terrorists were killed in the well-planned, well-coordinated and well-executed massive air and ground operations.
The terrorists were reportedly the allies of Marwan, the target of the SAF PNP operations in January 2015, and were responsible for the series of bombing incidents in Mindanao. With PNA