Suspected rebels killed by Philippine soldiers

Seven soldiers were wounded in the skirmish with the supposed members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters group, Brigadier Jose Vladimir Cagara said. He says the shootout in the swampy countryside of the province of Maguindanao del Sur went on for an hour.

Cagara says an important leader in the group, Mohide Animbang and his brother Saga Animbang were among those killed.

– The group has long been notorious for bomb attacks, attacks on police and military outposts and extortion from bus companies. We finally got hold of them, says the army’s regional spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Dennis Almorato. He says the authorities have long tried to get the group to surrender, but that the rebels chose to continue the fight against the authorities.

The Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters are among the few armed groups still waging a separatist insurgency in the heartlands of the Muslim minority in the predominantly Catholic country.

The largest rebel group, the Moro Islamist Liberation Front, signed a peace agreement with the government in 2014. A key leader broke away from the group during the peace process and formed the Bangsamoro group. Some of the most extreme members of the latter group have since aligned themselves with the extremist group IS.