Philippines: Bomb Experts Among Militants Killed Sunday

Four of 13 militants killed by soldiers in separate encounters in the southern Philippines on Sunday were bomb experts trained by slain Malaysian "terrorist" Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan, local officials and village leaders said Monday.



They added that three commanders of outlawed group the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) - Yusof Abesalih, also known as "Bisaya," and siblings Norodin and Salahudin Indong - were also among 13 gunmen soldiers shot dead one after another in firefights Friday afternoon.



The battles took place in secluded areas in Maguindanao - the site of the January killings of 44 police anti-terror commandos.



Villagers - among them Moro farmers - told the Daily Zamboanga Times that also killed in the encounters were BIFF members whom Marwan trained in the making of roadside bombs from October until December last year.



Marwan was killed by police commandos in the Jan. 25 dawn raid at his hideout in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.



Capt. Jo-Ann Petinglay, spokesperson for the Army's 6th Infantry Division, told the Times that they have been receiving persistent feedback from local officials and village leaders that some of the 13 had studied how to assemble explosives that can be detonated from a distance using mobile phones.



"That is what we have been hearing from informants," she said.



Members of the municipal peace and order councils in Datu Saudi and Datu Unsay towns, said Bisaya, feared for his brutality in dealing with Moro villagers that refuse to shell out "revolutionary tax," was killed in one of five military encounters last Sunday.



"Also killed where Norodin and Salahudin, who are both brothers of BIFF Commander Karialan Indong," a municipal councilor, who asked not to be identified, said.



Karialan was among a group of radical jihadists that helped Saudi-trained preacher Imam Ameril Ombra Kato establish the BIFF in late 2010. 



Relatives of Bisaya said his remains were buried in an unmarked grave in the area.



Sunday's encounter erupted when BIFF guerrillas opened fire at soldiers sent to verify the reported sightings of gunmen converging at strategic spots in the villages, as if preparing to mount simultaneous attacks.



The skirmishes spread to other areas when another BIFF group ambushed an army ambulance carrying wounded soldiers.



Close to 130,000 villagers in 11 Maguindanao towns have been dislocated by encounters in the past four weeks between BIFF and pursuing Army and Marine units. 



The evacuees are now cramped in squalid evacuation centers, surviving on food and water rations.



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