MANILA: A four-day battle between government forces and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in southern Philippines have left at least 44 militants dead and 26 wounded, an army official said.
Lt. Col. Gerry Besana of the Army 6th Infantry Division (6ID) Civil Military Operations (CMO) said the clashes occurred in three villages in Maguindanao province.
Capt. Arvin Encinas, 6ID spokesman, told Arab News the firefight broke out around 6:00 a.m. on Thursday at Barangay Lower Salbu, Datu Saudi Ampatuan town in Maguindanao. He said soldiers were conducting security operations in the area when they spotted a group of about 50 extremists led by a certain Commander Peni of the BIFF faction under Imam Minimbang alias Commander Karialan.
According to Encinas, the troops were dispatched to the area following reports from the civilian community on the presence of armed men in their village.
“As soon as our soldiers spotted the armed group, they immediately fired at enemy triggering the firefight,” the 6ID spokesman said.
Besana, meanwhile, said the fighting lasted until Friday. He stressed, however, that the military have not called off operations so troops are continuously pursuing the militants.
The official likewise said that while those initially encountered by government troops were BIFF gunmen under Karialan, from two other BIFF factions headed by Imam Bongos, alias Commander Bongos, and Esmael Abdulmalik, alias Abu Toraife, reinforced their comrades and joined in the firefight that spread to Barangay Tipango also in Datu Saudi Ampatuan and Barangay Malangog in neighboring town of Datu Unsay Ampatuan.
He further noted that with the onset of the fighting, soldiers were already able to take down at least six BIFF militants during ground operations. And on the second day, with artillery and airstrike support, government troops killed more militants, bringing the number of fatalities to 44.
Of the slain BIFF member, 34 were reportedly identified by their families. Several improvised bombs were likewise recovered by the soldiers.
“So, we are still going after 200- plus members of the BIFF,” Besana said, explaining that military estimate of the total strength of the militant group is approximately 300.
The pursuing troops, he added, had to get into chest-deep waters to pursue the enemy as the clashes took place in Maguindanao province’s vast marshland.
BIFF was originally led by commander Ameril Umbra Kato who bolted out from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) following the botched signing in 2008 of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MoA-AD) which the Supreme Court declared as unconstitutional. But after Kato’s death in 2015, the BIFF splintered into three factions led by Karialan, Bongos, and Toraife.
44 killed as army troops, BIFF militants clash in Philippines
44 killed as army troops, BIFF militants clash in Philippines
Merz says Germany exploring shared nuclear umbrella with European allies
- Germany is currently banned from developing a nuclear weapon
- Britain and France are the only European powers which have a nuclear arsenal
BERLIN: European nations are starting to discuss ideas around a shared nuclear umbrella to complement existing security arrangements with the US, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said, amid growing talk in Germany of developing its own nuclear defenses.
Merz, speaking at a time of increased transatlantic tensions as US President Donald Trump upends traditional alliances, said the talks were only at an initial stage and no decision was imminent.
“We know that we have to reach a number of strategic and military policy decisions, but at the moment, the time is not ripe,” he told reporters on Thursday.
Germany is currently banned from developing a nuclear weapon of its own under the so-called Four Plus Two agreement that opened the way for the country’s reunification in 1990 as well as under a landmark nuclear non-proliferation treaty that Germany signed in 1969.
Merz said Germany’s treaty obligations did not prevent it from discussing joint solutions with partners, including Britain and France, the only European powers which have a nuclear arsenal.
“These talks are taking place. They are also not in conflict with nuclear-sharing with the United States of America,” he said.
European nations have long relied heavily on the United States, including its large nuclear arsenal, for their defense but have been increasing military spending, partly in response to sharp criticism from the Trump administration.
Trump has rattled Washington’s European allies with his talk of acquiring Greenland from Denmark, a NATO ally, and his threat, later rescinded, to impose tariffs on countries that stood in his way.
He has also suggested in the past that the US would not help protect countries that failed to spend enough on their own defense.
Merz’s comments were echoed by the head of the parliamentary defense committee, Thomas Roewekamp, who said Germany had the technical capacity which could be used in developing a European nuclear weapon.
“We do not have missiles or warheads, but we do have a significant technological advantage that we could contribute to a joint European initiative,” Roewekamp, from Merz’s center-right Christian Democratic Union party, told Germany’s Welt TV.
