Manila, Philippines — Philippine troops killed the leader of a small Muslim rebel group and 11 of his men, blamed for past bombings and extortion, in a clash in the south of the country, military officials said Tuesday.
Seven soldiers were wounded in Monday’s hour-long shootout against suspected members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters in a swampy hinterland in Datu Saudi Ampatuan town in South Maguindanao province, said Brigadier General Jose Vladimir Cagara.
Cagara said a key commander of the rebel group, Mohiden Animbang, who used the nom de guerre Karialan, was killed, along with his brother, Saga Animbang, and 10 other suspected militants. About a dozen of their firearms were recovered from the battle site.
“This group has long been famous for their bombings, attacks on army and police outposts and for extorting bus companies. We finally caught up to them,” Lt. Col. Dennis Almorato, a regional spokesman, told The Associated Press by phone. from army.
Army officers tried to convince Animbang’s group to surrender, but he decided to continue fighting the government, Almorato said.
The Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters are among the few armed groups still waging a separatist uprising in the southern Philippines, homeland of the Muslim minority in the largely Catholic nation.
The largest armed separatist group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, signed a peace pact with the government in 2014 that eased decades of sporadic fighting. A key commander, Ameril Umbra Kato, broke away from the rebel front when it began peace talks with the government and formed the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, some of whose hardline members later aligned themselves with the Islamic State group.
The military is separately fighting a decades-old communist insurgency, weakened by battle setbacks, infighting and surrenders.