Suspected Islamic militants attack police station, military unit in Maguindanao town
Dec 4, 2020 5:05:00 AM
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 4) — Dozens of suspected Islamic militants attacked a police station and military unit in Datu Piang town in Maguindanao on Thursday night, burning a police car before scampering away, military officials confirmed to CNN Philippines.
Lt. Col. Anhouvic Atilano, spokesperson of the Army’s 6th Infantry Battalion, recounted that some 50 suspected members of local terror group Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and Dawlah Islamiyah conducted two simultaneous strikes around 10:30 p.m.
The perpetrators “harassed” the PNP police station in Poblacion, military officials said. Troops arrived shortly, engaging the attackers and forcing them to scurry away. On their way out, the gunmen burned a police patrol car in the municipal police station. Atilano said the group created the commotion in the military detachment to prevent troops from responding to the attack in the police station.
“Based doon sa na-engage natin tropa na nasa detachment, patrol base, ‘yung pumasok dito sa Poblacion ay more or less 30. Ang nag-harrass naman sa headquarters ng Charlie Company natin, more or less 20. So, more or less mga 50 sila,” Atilano told CNN Philippines on Friday.
[Translation: We engaged with more or less 30 people in the detachment and patrol base. More or less 20 people harassed the Charlie Company headquarters. So a total of 50, more or less.]
Atilano said that based on their initial investigation, the BIFF and Dawlah Islamiyah members were targeting the chief of police. But he said they will continue to look into the angle of a terrorist attack.
The military officer said there were no casualties recorded. He said the only damaged property was the police patrol car, denying earlier reports a nearby church and school were burned down.
He said they are tracking down the two main leaders of the armed men. He assured authorities are on top of the situation, saying they have increased the number of security forces to guard the area.
“Nais po nating iparating sa lahat ng mamamayan dito sa Datu Piang at sa karatig na mga munisipyo ng Maguindanao na ang Datu Piang po ay safe na,” he said.
[Translation: We want to tell the residents in Datu Piang and nearby areas that it’s already safe.]
The Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police are conducting a joint investigation into the “isolated” incident. the Western Mindanao Command said.
SOURCE: https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2020/12/4/Datu-Piang-Maguindanao-BIFF-Dawlah-Islamiyah-attack.html
