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Nine Moro militants killed in Mindanao clashes
 The Philippine military on Friday reported that at least nine members of a breakaway group from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) were killed in fierce battles with security forces in Mindanao.Captain Tony Bulao said the clashes were concentrated in marshland located between the provinces of North Cotabato and Maguindanao. He said the attacks were initiated by members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) headed by Ameril Umbra Kato, who broke away from the MILF in 2008. Bulao said, "They kept on harassing our forces," adding the BIFF started their attacks on a military outpost in a remote village in the town of Pikit, North Cotabato on New Year's Eve. The BIFF militants intensified their attacks January 1 and 2 as the fighting spread from Pikit to the towns of Midsayap and Aleosan in North Cotabato. Of the nine militant fatalities, Bulao said two were killed in their initial attack on a village in Pikit on December 31 while the seven others died while trying to take over a vital segment of the highway between Maguindanao and North Cotabato on January 2. Two soldiers were injured in the clashes. Posted by: ryuge 2014-01-04 |
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