Armed BIFF men assault Maguindanao city

ON Major General Juvymax Uy, commander of the 6th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army (right), inspects the new police car set on fire by Moorish gunmen linked to the Islamic State who attacked a predominantly Muslim community in Datu Piang city , Maguindanao province, on Thursday night. —FERDINAND CABRERA / COLLABORATOR

COTABATO CITY – Armed men belonging to the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), linked to the Islamic State (IS), stormed the city of Datu Piang in Maguindanao province after 10 p.m. Thursday, in a demonstration of force reminiscent of the siege of the city of Marawi in 2017.

Lieutenant Colonel Anhouvic Atilano, spokesman for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division (ID), said the gunmen were led by a “commander Motorola”, who entered the town around 10:30 pm and was looking for his chief of police , Police Captain Israel Bayona. .

Unable to find Bayona at the municipal police office, Atilano said the gunmen instead burned a newly acquired patrol car parked outside.

According to Atilano, the gunmen may have wanted to retaliate against Bayona for leading a police operation earlier that day.

“One of the suspects sought the help of his relatives at the BIFF,” Atilano said. “They came to get revenge on the chief of police.”

Akeel Hasan, a resident of Datu Piang, said he saw the gunmen arrive on motorcycles and multi-cab vehicles, brandishing high-powered weapons such as machine guns.

The scene, Hasan added, was “similar to the Marawi siege,” although the gunmen did not carry any black ISIS flags.

“They were shooting in different directions; many fired weapons in the direction of concrete houses, ”Hasan recalled.

Repulsed

The men, who were wearing black uniforms, tried to enter the city hall compound but were turned away by army soldiers, Hasan said.

Although there were no casualties, Datu Piang Mayor Victor Samama said that people in the city were traumatized by the hour-long attack.

“It was the first time [our] history that the city center was attacked by Moro gunmen, ”Samama said, adding that many residents, especially women and the elderly, were crying.

Samama said there were around 50 armed men involved in the attack.

“We are used to the armed conflict [happening] out of town, but this time, it happened right on our doorstep. Really scary, ”said Samama, who was in the city hall with the police chief at the height of the attack.

“I never thought that the BIFF, which certainly has relatives in the center of the city, could do that,” said the mayor.

“A handful of soldiers and police secured and defended the town hall during the attack,” recalled Samama.

When Army reinforcements, backed by armored personnel carriers, from the sixth ID arrived after 11pm, the BIFF gunmen were forced to flee.

Major General Juvymax Uy, 6th Chief Identification Officer, said the BIFF attack was obviously to impress that it was still a force to be reckoned with.

In admitting to carrying out the attack, BIFF spokesman Abu Jihad told a local radio station on Friday that they were forced to do so due to rampant illegal activities in the city, including the proliferation of illegal drugs and alcoholic beverages.

“The law of Islam prohibits all wrongdoing … We are simply enforcing it,” Jihad said.

“We will not stop and no one can stop us until there are illegal activities in the town,” he added.

The BIFF broke away from the armed wing of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, in 2010, although its founder, Ustadz Ameril Umbra Kato, openly swore allegiance to the MILF.

Following the incident, the Army deployed more troops with armored personnel carriers within the city center and the municipal compound.

The “brazen and senseless” terrorist attack in Datu Piang, Maguindanao, should not derail the government’s efforts to achieve peace in Mindanao, Basilan’s representative Mujiv Hataman said. —WITH REPORTS FROM JOEFFREY MAITEM, JULIE ALIPALA, AND JULIE M. AURELIO

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