AFP: BIFF wearing SAF uniform killed in Maguindanao firefight

At least two members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters were killed in a firefight with government troops Saturday night, the Armed Forces of the Philippines said Sunday.

One of the slain BIFF members wore a Special Action Force uniform, AFP public affairs head Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc said on his Twitter account.

Cabunoc said the two BIFF members were killed in a firefight at 10 p.m. in Shariff Saydona Mustapha in Maguindanao.

"One dead bandit wore a SAF uniform," he said but did not elaborate.

Marines kill 2 BIFF in a firefight at 10pm last night in S Saydona. 1 dead bandit wore SAF uniform. Troops Seized 1 60mm mortar, 1 M14 rifle

— Ranger Cabunzky (@HaroldCabunoc94) March 8, 2015

The BIFF and Moro Islamic Liberation Front engaged the SAF in a clash in Mamasapano, last Jan. 25, leaving44 SAF members and 18 MILF fighters dead.

Cabunoc said the government troops seized a 60-mm mortar and an M-14 rifle.

The BIFF is a breakaway faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. The government has been conducting offensives against the BIFF since late February.

A report from Reuters late Saturday afternoon said soldiers had killed 14 Muslim guerrillas in earlier assualts on BIFF camps, and that the offensive had displaced some 80,000 people.
 
As of Saturday, the army claimed three Muslim rebel bases, including a factory for improvised bombs, had been seized on the southern island of Mindanao, near where 44 commandos were killed in a secret mission to capture a Malaysian bomb-maker with a $5 million bounty from the US State Department, Reuters reported. — Joel Locsin/LBG, GMA News