COTABATO CITY, BARMM, Philippines — The leader of a faction of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) was killed during a joint military and police law enforcement operation while authorities were serving a warrant of arrest in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao del Norte, before dawn on Sunday, a military official said.
Brig. General Edgar Catu, commander of the Army’s 601st Infantry Brigade, identified the fatality as Esmael Abubakar, widely known as “Commander Bungos,” whom the military described as the overall chairman and leader of the BIFF-Bungos faction and one of the high-value targets of the Western Mindanao Command.
The operation was conducted at around 2 a.m. in Barangay Calsada by Army soldiers, together with personnel from the Maguindanao del Sur Police Provincial Office.
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