MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine soldiers backed by armoured vehicles have retaken a southern town held for 12 hours by pro-Islamic State militants, the army said on Wednesday, with four rebels killed in urban clashes reminiscent of a five-month siege last year.

A soldier from the the Philippines Army's 2nd Mechanized Infantry Division peeks on a scope of rifle during clashes with members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) militants during clashes in Maguindanao, Philippines July 4, 2018. Picture taken July 4, 2018. Sgt Christian Santos/33rd IB/6th IB/Armed Forces of the Philippines/Handout via REUTERS

The clashes followed warnings by President Rodrigo Duterte that remnants of pro-Islamic State militant groups had been recruiting and still planning attacks on several southern cities to set up an independent and separate Islamic state.

Troops pursued militants from the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) group, who fled to the hills after trying to occupy a marshland town, Lieutenant-Colonel Harold Cabunoc, an army battalion commander, said in a statement.

The military will continue to “disrupt the BIFF’s plan to sow terror in communities” in the troubled south, Cabunoc said.

There was no immediate comment from the Islamist militants’ group.

Hundreds of residents have remained in shelter areas and not been allowed to return home after troops retrieved improvised explosive devices and other booby traps in the town of Datu Paglas.

Cabunoc said four Islamist militants were killed and two others were wounded. A soldier and a local militia official were also wounded.

The army said the Datu Paglas attack could be a test case, since the area was near the militants’ marshland base.

Since March, the military has shifted its combat operations from Marawi, a battered lakeside town in Mindanao embroiled in last year’s five-month conflict, to the island’s marshes where other pro-Islamic State militants operate.

More than 40 BIFF militants have been killed in the last four months by troops in air and ground assaults the military described as preemptive moves to thwart militant attacks on cities. [nL3N1RO2ZK]</s>- Philippine soldiers backed by armoured vehicles have retaken a southern town held for 12 hours by pro-Islamic State (IS) militants, the army said on July 4.Lieutenant-Colonel Harold Cabunoc, commander of the army’s 33rd Infantry Battalion, said troops pursued militants from the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) group, who retreated to the hills after trying to occupy the town of Datu Paglas in Maguindanao province.He added that the military will continue to “disrupt the BIFF's plan to sow terror into communities” in the south.The clashes followed warnings by President Rodrigo Duterte that remnants of pro-Islamic State militant groups had been still recruiting and planning attacks on several southern cities to set up an independent and separate Islamic state.Two weeks ago, the Philippine army launched offensives against BIFF in Liguasan Marsh in North Cotabato and Maguindanao on Midanao Island, southern Philippines.BIFF is a splinter group of the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front and has up to 400 members. It is among the several militant groups in Mindanao that pledged allegiance to the self-proclaimed Islamic State a few years ago. They are active in the central Mindanao area, especially in Cotabato city, as well as the provinces of Maguindanao, North Cotabato, and Sultan Kudarat.-VNA</s>A soldier from the the Philippines Army's 2nd Mechanized Infantry Division fires a rocket launcher towards the positions of members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) militants during clashes in Maguindanao, Philippines July 4, 2018. Source: Reuters

SECURITY Forces in the Philippines on Wednesday said they thwarted an attempt by pro-Islamic State militates to occupy a town in the southern province of Maguindanao.

The 12-hour siege left four rebels dead in urban clashes reminiscent of the five-month confrontation in Marawi last year.

The clashes followed warnings by President Rodrigo Duterte that remnants of pro-Islamic State militant groups had been recruiting and still planning attacks on several southern cities to set up an independent and separate Islamic state.

SEE ALSO: Preventing other ‘Marawis’: Battle for hearts and minds of Philippine Muslims

Troops pursued militants from the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) group, who fled to the hills after trying to occupy a marshland town Datu Paglas, Lieutenant-Colonel Harold Cabunoc, an army battalion commander, said in a statement.

Cabunoc said the military will continue to “disrupt the BIFF’s plan to sow terror in communities” in the troubled south,

“We confronted enemy snipers and improvised bombs as we seized the areas that were previously occupied by the terrorists. We also wanted to contain the fighting outside of the highly populated area some 500 meters away,” he said, as quoted by the Manila Times.

There was no immediate comment from the Islamist militants’ group.

Hundreds of residents have remained in shelter areas and not been allowed to return home after troops retrieved improvised explosive devices and other booby traps in the town of Datu Paglas.

Cabunoc said four Islamist militants were killed and two others were wounded. A soldier and a local militia official were also wounded.

SEE ALSO: Philippines govt under fire for delay in Marawi ground zero rehabilitation

The army said the Datu Paglas attack could be a test case, since the area was near the militants’ marshland base.

Since March, the military has shifted its combat operations from Marawi, a battered lakeside town in Mindanao embroiled in last year’s five-month conflict, to the island’s marshes where other pro-Islamic State militants operate.

More than 40 BIFF militants have been killed in the last four months by troops in air and ground assaults the military described as preemptive moves to thwart militant attacks on cities.</s>Philippine security forces launched fresh assaults against pro-Islamic State militants Tuesday, leaving four enemies dead and two soldiers wounded in heavy clashes on the southern island of Mindanao.

The military offensives took place after militants belonging to the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) overran a town hall in Datu Paglas in the southern province of Maguindanao, local military spokesman Capt. Arvin John Encinas told BenarNews. Soldiers repulsed the gunmen, he said.

“We used our air assets since Sunday. Four were killed on the enemy side,” he said.

The gunmen had been massing up in the area since Sunday, Encinas said, adding that the militants began moving to evade pursuing troops.

Thong Paglas, the town’s vice mayor, said that before the clashes, local officials had spoken with Abu Solaiman, leader of a BIFF unit, who rejected their demand to pull out.

“They ignored us, so the military started their assault,” he said, adding that more than 50 families have been forced to abandon their homes.

Local reports said the gunmen also took five civilian hostages and were using them as “human shields.”

The military assault began at the weekend, supposedly targeting BIFF leader Abu Turaipe, whose faction has pledged allegiance to the IS. But he was believed to have escaped the offensive yet again.

“Our soldiers overran Turaipe’s house (but) he managed to escape,” Encinas said. He said two soldiers were wounded in the gun battles.

The BIFF is a splinter group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country’s main separatist group, which signed a peace deal with Manila in 2014.

The BIFF had vowed to push on with the separatist fight, attracting younger, more hardline members of the MILF.

Turaipe’s forces number in the dozens and have been engaged in hit-and-run attacks with the military.

The group had publicly expressed support for last year’s attack by another pro-IS group on the city of Marawi, also in the south, but did not send fighters. At least 1,200 people, mostly militants, were killed in five months of vicious fighting in Marawi.

The Initiatives for International Dialogue, a group advocating peace, called on government troops as well as local government officials on Tuesday to ensure the public’s safety as troops go after the militants.

"We are seriously alarmed and bothered by the possible extent of civilian casualties – most of whom are women and children – if this conflict will continue,” Gus Miclat, the group’s executive director, told BenarNews.

He said the hostilities broke out just as the central government in Manila was hammering out the final details of a proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law that would give minority Muslims expanded autonomy in the south.

Congress had passed the BBL earlier, and President Rodrigo Duterte is expected to sign it into law when he delivers his annual “state of the nation” address in July.

“We invoke the state’s responsibility to protect and fulfill the rights of internally displaced persons during evacuation until their safe and dignified return to their places of origin,” Miclat said.

He warned that a watered-down BBL could lead to further trouble in the south.

The BBL was envisioned to outline the basic structure of a proposed autonomy in Mindanao. Under the deal, the government had promised to pass the BBL, which would spell out the boundaries of the autonomous government.

Mark Navales in Cotabato City contributed to this report.</s>The military says it foiled an attempt of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters to occupy the town hall of Datu Paglas town after a 9-hour operation that included air strikes on Tuesday, July 3

MANILA, Philippines – Clashes between government troops and the separatist Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) reached a town center in Maguindanao on Tuesday, July 3, as the military continues aggressive operations to hunt down groups linked with the Islamic State (ISIS).

The military said it foiled an attempt to occupy the town hall of Datu Paglas town after a 9-hour operation on Tuesday, July 3, that deployed air force assets for air strikes.

Three soldiers were “slightly wounded” due to shrapnel and bullet wounds, the military said.

“Combined Army and police forces had blocked the attempt of ISIS-inspired terrorist group in occupying the seat of the municipal government here on Tuesday,” said Lieutenant Colonel Harold M Cabunoc, commanding officer of the 33rd Infantry Battalion that led the operation.

Cabunoc said clashes with the group of BIFF sub-leader Sulaiman Tudon erupted at 5 am on Tuesday.

“The troops attacked the enemy-held cluster of concrete houses in Sitio Mopac of Barangay Poblacion, an area that is about 500 meters from the municipal hall. Supported by armored vehicles and infantry mortars, the house-to-house close quarter battle lasted about 9 hours in an area that is located in the middle of a rice field,” Cabunoc said.

“We confronted enemy snipers and improvised bombs as we seized the areas that are previously occupied by the terrorists. We also wanted to contain the fighting outside of the highly populated area some 500 meters away,” Cabunoc said.

Leaders of the BIFF, a breakaway faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), have pledged allegiance to ISIS, based on their video releases.

The group is one of the threats that the government cited when it asked Congress to extend martial law in Mindanao until the end of 2018. (READ: End martial law? Lorenzana warns vs another Marawi) – Rappler.com</s>MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine government forces have foiled an attempt by a few dozen Muslim militants aligned with the Islamic State group to attack a small southern town in fighting that left four gunmen dead, an army official said Wednesday.

Army Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc said troops clashed with 30-40 militants Tuesday and drove them away from the small farming community of Mopac where they planned to launch an attack on the town center of Datu Paglas about a half kilometer (quarter mile) away.

The militants from the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters led by Solaiman Tudon occupied several abandoned houses in Mopac, where he used to live, over the weekend but his family and other villagers asked the gunmen to leave.

"They took sniper positions and placed some bombs in the community and that alarmed the villagers," Cabunoc said.

Troops backed by artillery fire later arrived and clashed with the militants, who fled and were being pursued by government forces, Cabunoc said, adding that villagers started returning to their homes in Mopac on Wednesday.

Tudon's group is one of several small armed militant factions that have expressed support to the Islamic State group.

Clashes have erupted this week in a number of rural villages in Maguindanao province, where Datu Paglas is located, as troops pressed sporadic offensives to prevent a repeat of last year's siege of southern Marawi city by hundreds of Islamic State group-aligned militants. The five-month fighting in Marawi left more than 1,000 combatants and civilians dead and displaced hundreds of thousands of villagers.</s>Airstrikes were launched against a faction of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) by the Philippine Air Force (PAF) in the marshy areas of the municipalities of Datu Montawal, Pagalungan, Gen. SK Pendatun, and Sultan sa Barongis in the province of Maguindanao, as well as in the municipality of Pikit in the province of North Cotabato on 10 June 2018.

This incident was part of an ongoing operation by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) against the BIFF faction led by Esmail Abubakar (aka Commander Bungos), whose group had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS).

The operation was coordinated with the MILF ceasefire panel. However, due to time constraints, no pre-emptive evacuation was organized.

A BIFF bomb factory in the southern parts of Liguasan Marsh was reportedly destroyed as a result of this operation. In addition, 15 members of the BIFF faction were killed and 8 were wounded, according to reports. This information was, however, denied by the leadership of the BIFF.

Residents of these areas who were, at that time, taking their preobservance of the Islamic month of Ramadhan were forced to evacuate to safer locations.

Based on the most recent report provided by the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office of Maguindanao as of 19 June 2018, 5,136 families (23,465 individuals) have been displaced.

 Most of the displaced are staying with host families, while the rest have settled in designated evacuation sites, such as schools, gyms, and in other community structures. IDPs who are home-based, particularly those in the remote areas, are at risk of being excluded from registration processes.

The government of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) through the ARMM Humanitarian Emergency Action Response Team (ARMM-HEART), DSWD ARMM, and DSWD Region XII are presently working in close coordination with the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Councils of the affected municipalities within their respective jurisdiction, which have conducted assessments to different displacement sites, to address the displacement.

The displaced population perceive that their displacement may take longer than expected. They have expressed that they will not return until Government troops have pulled out from the area, because they fear that they may be caught in the crossfire.

An undetermined number of civilians residing in the area known as the Salbu, Pagatin, Mamasapano and Shariff Aguak (SPMS) Box and in neighboring towns have also pre-emptively evacuated to nearby villages because of fear of a possible escalation of conflict in their areas, triggered by the increasing presence of the military.

There is an advice from the authorities that the IDPs can safely return to their respective residences. However, IDPs have chosen to stay away from their places of origin because of the continued military operations. There are evacuation centers that are vacated, but only because the IDPs have just transferred to other temporary displacement locations.</s>MANILA, Philippines (AP) - A Philippine army commander says government forces have foiled an attempt by a few dozen Muslim militants aligned with the Islamic State group to attack a small southern town in fighting that left four gunmen dead.

Army Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc says troops clashed with 30 to 40 militants Tuesday and drove them away from the small farming community of Mopac where they planned to launch an attack on the town hall of Datu Paglas town about a half kilometer (quarter mile) away.

Cabunoc said Wednesday the militants from the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters led by Solaiman Tudon occupied several abandoned houses in Mopac, where he used to live, over the weekend but his family and other villagers asked the gunmen to leave.

Troops later clashed with the militants.</s>MANILA, July 4 (Reuters) - Philippine soldiers backed by armoured vehicles have retaken a southern town held for 12 hours by pro-Islamic State militants, the army said on Wednesday, with four rebels killed in urban clashes reminiscent of a five-month siege last year.

The clashes followed warnings by President Rodrigo Duterte that remnants of pro-Islamic State militant groups had been recruiting and still planning attacks on several southern cities to set up an independent and separate Islamic state.

Troops pursued militants from the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) group, who fled to the hills after trying to occupy a marshland town, Lieutenant-Colonel Harold Cabunoc, an army battalion commander, said in a statement.

The military will continue to "disrupt the BIFF's plan to sow terror in communities" in the troubled south, Cabunoc said.

There was no immediate comment from the Islamist militants' group.

Hundreds of residents have remained in shelter areas and not been allowed to return home after troops retrieved improvised explosive devices and other booby traps in the town of Datu Paglas.

Cabunoc said four Islamist militants were killed and two others were wounded. A soldier and a local militia official were also wounded.

The army said the Datu Paglas attack could be a test case, since the area was near the militants' marshland base.

Since March, the military has shifted its combat operations from Marawi, a battered lakeside town in Mindanao embroiled in last year's five-month conflict, to the island´s marshes where other pro-Islamic State militants operate.

More than 40 BIFF militants have been killed in the last four months by troops in air and ground assaults the military described as preemptive moves to thwart militant attacks on cities. (Reporting by Manuel Mogato; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)</s>KUALA LUMPUR: At least 13 militants from the Islamic State-linked Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), including one of its commanders, have been killed in military operations in Central Mindanao, according to the Armed Forces of Philippines.

The military operations comprising land and air strikes started on Jul 1.

“A total of 13 (BIFF militants) are killed, while on the government side, 14 were wounded and two were killed during encounters,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Gerry Besana, a spokesman for Western Mindanao Command.

“Among those killed is BIFF Commander Marrox, a known bomber and one of the prime suspects in the Mamasapano clash,” said Besana, referring to the 44 members of the Philippine police's Special Action Force who died in the January 2015 operation.

The Mamasapano clash occurred during an operation against the militant BIFF in 2015 that went awry, resulting in one of the biggest casualties suffered by Philippine police in a single incident.

According to Besana, Marrox was also behind a string of attacks against the military in central Mindanao in recent years.

“Marrox spearheaded the ambush to the troops of the 40th Infantry Battalion a year ago. His followers include escapees during the North Cotabato jail break,” said Besana.

As of press time, military operations are still on-going in Central Mindanao.

“We are gaining ground and so we are taking advantage of it,” said Brigadier-General Cirilito Sobejana, who is leading the Joint Taskforce Central military operations.
Philippine soldiers clash with militants from the ISIL-affiliated Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), in the southern province of Maguindanao. The fighting began when BIFF militants attempted to occupy a town center, and lasted for 12 hours until the BIFF militants withdrew to the hills. Four militants were killed, while two militants, a Philippine soldier and a local militiaman were wounded.