GOVERNMENT troops have killed 44 members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and wounded dozens of others in three days of intense fighting in Maguindanao province that started Wednesday.
Lt. Col. Gerry Besana, Civil Military Operations head of the 6th Infantry Division, said the fighting broke out in the villages of Salbo, Kitango and Malangog, Maguindanao.
Besana said 34 of the slain BIFF fighters have already been identified, and all have been buried in keeping with Muslim tradition.
The BIFF rebels had broken up.
“The BIFF contingent had massed up in different groups in the three villages and started to harass the military detachment, forcing security forces to engage them,” Besana said.
There was a lull in fighting Sunday, he said.
He said they had orders from Maj. Gen. Arnel dela Vega, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, to hunt down the BIFF to prevent them from launching terrorist attacks in Maguindanao.