MANILA, March 12 (Xinhua) -- At least 12 people, including three soldiers, died in ongoing clashes between government forces and insurgents in central Mindanao region in the southern Philippines in the past two days, the military said on Tuesday.
Maj. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, commander of a military task force in central Mindanao, said fierce fighting erupted on Monday in a village near the municipality of Shariff Saydona Mustapha in Maguindanao province.
Aside from the three soldiers, he said eight members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), an Islamic rebel organization, and one member of the Maute Group were also killed in the fighting.
According to Sobejana, the military launched the attack after receiving reports that over 100 BIFF terrorists were seen in the vicinity of Shariff Saydona Mustapha tow, a known lair of the BIFF.
Sobejana said the insurgents were hit as fighter jets, attack helicopters and howitzers shelled their hideout, causing some 16,000 villagers to flee. The evacuees are reportedly staying in evacuation centers in the towns of Shariff Saidona, Shariff Aguak and Datu Salibo, Maguindanao.
Air and ground assault continued on Tuesday in several villages in Maguindanao, Sobejana said.
"We assure the public that surgical operation is targeting only the encampments of ISIS-inspired groups of BIFF," Sobejana added.
"There are still pocket of resistance, they have splintered into smaller groups in the vast area. We have beefed up our forces so we can follow every direction of the enemy," Sobejana said.
"We are partially in control of the area, of their stronghold ... We are now occupying some of the areas that they have control before ... We were able to do that at the expense of one soldier who got killed and seven others who were injured," he said.
"Now, our objective is to control the whole area, that's why we expect more resistance in the next few minutes, hours and few days," Sobejana said.
The BIFF, an Islamic separatist organization based in the southern Philippines, was founded in 2010 by Ameril Umbra Kato as a splinter group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a splinter group of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).
