MANILA, June 21 (Xinhua) -- A spokesman for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said on Wednesday that up to 300 extremists who occupied a school in North Cotabato province in the southern Philippines before dawn Wednesday are using 23 civilians as human shield.
Army spokesman Capt. Nap Alcarioto said the armed group belonging to the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) occupied a school in Pgkawayan town in North Cotabato province.
The military said the extremists belonging to the BIFF, a group of rebels who broke away from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), attacked a school in a town in North Cotabato province around 5:45 a.m. local time on Wednesday.
Militiamen and village security personnel fought it out with the armed groups, according to Alcarioto, adding the village security personnel were later reinforced by troops.
A militia man was reportedly wounded in the ongoing firefight.
Alcarioto said the village security personnel repulsed the BIFF, and as they escaped they occupied a school and seized 23 civilians, including seven students.
"They are still occupying the school. We cannot easily get near because they laid IEDs (improvised explosive devices) around the school," Alcarioto said.
Col. Edgard Arevalo, the Armed Forces of the Philippines Public Affairs chief, said that sporadic fighting continues as of press time.
The BIFF attack prompted the military to launch an offensive and pursuit operation to flush out the extremists from the town.
"The skirmishes continue. There are sporadic firefights because they (the rebels) are resisting," Arevalo said.
He said the military will try to end the stand off as soon as possible. He said the BIFF pre-dawn attack is meant to impress upon the authorities that they are still a force to reckon with.
"What they do actually is they disrupted the peace of the community, of the town," he said.
Based on the report of the military commander on the ground, Arevalo said the BIFF militants are still holed up inside the school.
But Arevalo insisted that the military has "contained the situation." He added that the attack in North Cotabato is not related to the ongoing Marawi siege.
Brig Gen. Restitution Padilla earlier said the troops managed to drive away the BIFF fighters.
"It's already resolved. They've withdrawn, they are no longer there. The school area is again safe," Padilla told a news conference at the Malacanang presidential palace.
He said the troops are "in pursuit mode."
The firefight in North Cotabato broke out as government troops continued to battle with the remnants of Islamic militants allied with Islamic State (IS) in Marawi City, also in the southern Philippines.
The Marawi skirmishes, which have resulted in nearly 400 people killed and over 200,000 displaced, have been ongoing since the militants overran the city in Lanao del Sur last May 23 in a bid to establish an IS caliphate in the Mindanao region.
President Rodrigo Duterte placed Mindanao under marital law in the wake of the Marawi City. Both attacks took place while Mindanao is under martial law.
