Wholegrain
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7 killed as Army, BIFF clash anew in Maguindanao
2 soldiers wounded in Maguindanao ambush - InterAksyon.com
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2 soldiers wounded in Maguindanao ambush - InterAksyon.com
7 killed as Army, BIFF clash anew in Maguindanao
By: Ferds Ballentes and Jaime Sinapit, InterAksyon.com
July 13, 2013 1:46 PM
Soldiers look at a tank at an Army camp in Maguindanao (InterAksyon file photo by Dennis Arcon)
InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
COTABATO CITY, Philippines -- (UPDATE - 3:37 p.m.) Two soldiers and at least five alleged Moro rebels were killed in fresh violence in Maguindanao province Saturday morning.
The hostilities were triggered by an ambush on soldiers of the 2nd Mechanized Battalion at Crossing Bungo, Barangay Kateman, Guindulungan town around 9:15 a.m. in which two soldiers were wounded, Colonel Dickson Hermoso, spokesman of the Armys 6th Infantry Division, said.
Reinforcements rushed to the scene made contact with the retreating gunmen, believed to be fighters of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighter, a faction that split from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Five BIFF fighters and two soldiers died in the fighting, while four other troops were wounded, Hermoso said.
Last weekend, the BIFF clashed with government forces in a number of towns in North Cotabato and Maguindanao, including Guindulungan.
Six soldiers were killed while the military claimed to have killed 80 rebels, although 6th ID commander, Major General Romeo Gapuz, said they could only confirm 18 BIFF fatalities.
The fighting, on the eve of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, drove up to 5,000 residents from their homes.
The evacuees remain crowded in evacuation centers.
The military has accused the BIFF of initiating the recent hostilities in a bid to derail peace talks between government and the MILF.
The breakaway Moro rebel group was formed by former MILF commander Ameril Umra Kato, who opposed the peace negotiations.
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