COTABATO CITY — A suspected bomb-maker of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) was killed in an air and ground anti-terrorism operation in Barangay Butilen, Salibo town, Maguindanao del Sur.
Major Gen. Alex S. Rillera, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, told reporters on Monday that the calibrated anti-terror operation last Saturday resulted in the seizure of 26 powerful improvised explosive devices (IED).
He said the offensive was launched after municipal officials reported the convergence in the area of BIFF members, as if preparing for a large-scale attack.
Soldiers dispatched to clear the area, after the aerial maneuvers by Philippine Air Force attack helicopters and fixed-wing bombers, engaged the BIFF terrorists in a gunbattle that ended in the death of the suspected BIFF bomb-maker. — John Felix M. Unson
