ZAMBOANGA
At least 27 elite police troopers were reported killed in a fierce firefight with suspected Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in the Philippines Muslim south Sunday.
Von Al Haq, the military chief of the rival Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that the 27 troopers from the Philippine National Police's elite Special Action Forces died in Maguindanao after they clashed with suspected BIFF at about 3 a.m. Sunday (1900GMT Saturday).
He attributed the number to MILF field commander sources.
Capt. Joanne Petinglay, chief of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division public affairs unit, would not confirm to The Anadolu Agency exactly how many were killed but said the military had since been conducting clearing operations in Tukanalipao village, Mamasapano, Maguindanao.
She said army troops backed by armored personnel carriers were now in the area to assist the police forces.
"As of now I cannot give the exact number of fatalities. It was a police operation, there was no coordination with our troops on the ground," Petinglay said.
But a police source in Maguindanao -- who asked not to be named -- told the Inquirer that at least 36 policemen belonging to the unit were killed, disarmed and mutilated.
"We are still verifying the casualty figure, what we are doing is we assist the police in extracting the fatalities," Petinglay said.
She added that the police had been sent to Mamasapano for a "law enforcement operation against a most wanted man, a high value target, a Jemaah Islamiya member."
Jemaah Islamiya are a Southeast Asian militant organization linked to al-Qaeda.
Al Haq told the Inquirer that the Special Forces reportedly were to serve warrants of arrest for Malaysian bomb maker Zulkifli bin Hir -- known in military and police officials as "Marwan" -- when the group clashed with the BIFF.
"They were also after Basit Usman," he added. Usman is understood to be a Jemaah Islamiyah bomb-making expert trained in Afghanistan.
"They were trapped and may have run out of bullets during a fierce firefight," the police source said. He added that "Marwan" was also killed along with several BIFF members.
As of 6 p.m. local time, roads leading to Mamasapano were closed and reporters were barred from entering the site where the incident occurred.
Petinglay said soldiers of the 2nd Mechanized Brigade were still in the area as of Sunday night.
The BIFF has vowed to sabotage a peace process between the government and the MILF -- the country's one-time largest rebel group -- and to continue fighting for full Bangsamoro independence.
In March, the MILF signed up to a peace deal to establish a Bangsamoro entity in Mindanao, the country’s southernmost major island, to replace the current autonomous region and implement the Bangsamoro Basic Law in return for it renouncing violence and decommissioning its arms.
If confirmed, the number of deaths would be the highest the government has suffered for some time.
In July 12, 2007, Islamic militants in Basilan in the south killed 14 marines, beheading 11 of them, while at least 33 security force personnel were among the 169 people who died during the Moro National Liberation Front's siege of Zamboanga City in 2013.
The siege was to register the MNLF's disappointment at the MILF's peace process.
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