Philippines: 5 Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) militants killed in north Cotabato clashes
About 200 families have evacuated and found themselves dislocated as firefights between Islamic State-inspired bandits from Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and Philippine Army troops resumed in Carmen, North Cotabato.
Local officials on Friday confirmed that affected residents of Martesan and Misalan in Barangay Tonganon were forced to evacuate for fear of a rampage by the group of BIFF commander Esmael Abdulmalik, alias Abu Toraife.
According to the military, Abu Toraife lost five of his followers in the bloody encounters with the Army troops.
Three soldiers from the Army’s 34th Infantry Battalion (IB) and a local member of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit (Cafgu) were wounded in the initial gunfight that erupted before dawn on Tuesday.