MANILA: Government forces, assisted by helicopter gunships, kllled at least nine “rogue” Moro rebels who pledged allegiance to the Daesh in the Middle East, in a weekend encounter in Maguindanao province in Mindanao, the military confirmed on Monday.

Captain Arvin Jhon Encinas, a military spokesman, also reported that a soldier was killed and another wounded in the encounter that occurred on Saturday night in a “barangay:” (village) in the town of Datu Unsay, Maguindanao.

Encinas said soldiers of the Army’s First Infantry Division were on security patrol when they clashed with about 80 members of the Daesh-linked Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in the village.

As the battle raged, helicopter gunships and artillery fire assisted the soldiers who recovered at least four M16 assault rifles and improvised bombs from the site, according to Encinas.

He said the military recovered at least six bodies of the slain terrorists, adding the BIFF fatalities could be more, based on the testimonies of villagers who witnessed the encounter.

“The remains of the slain terrorists were recovered by government forces and turned over to local officials for immediate burial (in keeping with the Muslim tradition,” Encinas said.

The military said the BIFF has been launching “retaliatory” attacks on civilians as well as military and police outpost in Maguindanao since the holiday season due to the campaign launched against them.

The military said the BIFF was founded by the late veteran field commander Ameril Umbra Kato of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), who seceded with about 1,000 of his armed followers due to major policy differences with the front leaders over the conduct of their peace talks with the government.

The BIFF also announced it would continue to oppose the historic peace agreement signed by the MILF with the administration of then president Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino.

Under the agreement, the government is to set up a new Bangsamoro political entity whose initial territory is to come from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) composed of the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Sulu, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi as well as Marawi City.