Soldier, 3 gunmen slain as BIFF attack Army detachment in Mamasapano

June 6, 2017 - 7:47 AM
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Troops in Mindanao undergo combat training. (file photo)

A soldier and three members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters were killed when gunmen attacked an Army detachment in Barangay Tukanalipao, Mamasapano in Maguindanao province Sunday morning, the military said.

Tukanalipao is the same village where the January 2015 Mamasapano incident, which saw 44 police Special Action Force commandos, 17 Moro Islamic Liberation Front fighters, and at least three civilians died in clashes that erupted in the wake of a clandestine government mission to get Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan.

An unknown number of BIFF fighters attacked the detachment of the 40th Infantry Battalion around 4:30 a.m., triggering a 45-minute firefight with the military providing artillery support for the troops.

Recovered from the BIFF were four caliber 45 pistols, one 9mm caliber pistol, an improvised explosive device, magazines and ammunition and other war materiel.

Later that morning, five persons were intercepted, also in Tukanalipao, with two .45 caliber pistols, a 9mm pistol and three sachets of suspected crystal meth or shabu.