Soldiers capture biggest BIFF camp

By John Unson 

Army combatants pose at the center of the 7-hectare camp of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in Barangay Ganta in Shariff Saidona town in the second district of Maguindanao, after hoisting the Philippine flag on its parade ground where the outlawed BIFF had trained child warriors and regular recruits. (John Unson)

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines - Soldiers hoisted Saturday morning the Philippine flag at the center of the biggest enclave of the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in Barangay Ganta in Shariff Saidona town in the province.

The seven-hectare camp, which housed more than 500 BIFF bandits led by Ustadz Karialan, fell at about dusk on Friday, after five days of air, artillery and ground offensives by combined units of the Army’s 601st Brigade, the 1st Mechanized Brigade and combatants from the 6th Infantry Division.

Soldiers, led by Col. Edgar Gonzales and Col. Edmund Pangilinan, commanding officers of the 1st Mechanized and 601st Brigades, respectively recovered close to 3,000 rounds of ammunition of various calibers and about 300 kilos of blasting chemicals and other materials for improvised explosives in makeshift shelters scattered in the camp.

Local officials said the BIFF had used the camp as a springboard for its extortion and bombing activities in Maguindanao and nearby towns in North Cotabato.

Gonzales said they are thankful to barangay folks for providing them information on the exact location of the camp and its fortification details before soldiers began clearing the enclave from BIFF control.

The escape routes of the BIFF bandits the soldiers had forced out of the camp were heavily stained with blood, indicating that the group suffered heavy losses from the military assault.

Guns in the adjoining Datu Piang and Shariff Saidona towns have been silent since Saturday dawn, but the military remained on full alert, anticipating BIFF retaliations for the takeover of the camp.

The BIFF ran a shadow government in Barangay Ganta that levied excessive revolutionary taxes from local peasant communities.

The BIFF is also despised for imposing a ruthless Taliban-style justice system in areas where it operates.