ISABELA CITY, Basilan: Two rival factions of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) engaged in a two-day firefight that began on Friday, killing a rebel commander and two of his followers at Barangay Babag, Bubuan Island town, a belated military report received in this capital city said.

The Philippine Army’s 14th Special Force Company headed by Capt. Edmer Malucon and MNLF field commander Jimpoy Rodin have proceeded to Babag to keep the peace on the island whose hundreds of residents, who fled to the nearby municipalities of Maluso and Lantawan, have refused to go back to their homes for fear of being caught in the crossfire despite deployment of soldiers there.