AT LEAST 10 members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters were killed in the airstrikes in Maguindanao that started on Christmas Day, the Armed Forces of the Philippines said Tuesday.
The military said it started the strikes after the BIFF attacked the Kato Detachment of the Army’s 57th Infantry Battalion in Datu Unsay town around 10 p.m. It said it immediately sent two attack helicopters that used 105mm howitzer cannons to bomb the BIFF’s positions.
The strikes lasted four hours or until 2 a.m. on Tuesday.
The leaders of the Tedurays in Maitumaig village confirmed that at least 10 BIFF bandits were killed in the airstrikes, and that several others were hurt.
The military said it was able to warn and evacuate the villagers even before the BIFF attacked its Kato Detachment. It said the bandits burned at least three houses during the attack, but it was now conducting clearing operations in the area.
Army spokesman Captain Arvin Encinas said the members of the BIFF attacked Datu Unsay town around 9:40 p.m. on Monday, and that initial reports said four of them were killed while five others were wounded.
Encinas said the airstrikes started after the bandits burned two houses in a Teduray Community in Sitio Makon, Barangay Iginampong in Datu Unsay, Maguindanao.
“The residents of the community fled to Sitio Bagong for safety and reported the incident to the nearest army detachment,” he said.