Some 50 members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) engaged military forces in Datu Saudi-Ampatuan, Maguindanao, in a firefight on Thursday but with no casualties were reported on both sides. Captain Arvin Encinas, spokesman for the Philippine Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said the gunbattle between troops from the 2nd Mechanized Battalion conducting zoning operation in the area and the BIFF under alias “Peni Sog” of the group’s Karialan faction happened at about 6 a.m. He added that air support was provided by the military. The firefight lasted for two hours. Pursuit operation are ongoing, Encinas said.
