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Forty-nine Philippine police personnel were believed to be killed in the Sunday gunbattle with Muslim rebels in the southern province of Maguindanao, local police said on Monday.
A series of clashes occurred in the early hours of Sunday in Mamasapano town between the Special Action Force (SAF) of the Philippines National Police (PNP) and the alleged members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Harold Cabunoc, public affairs office chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines(AFP), said there are no reported skirmishes between the two sides as military efforts are still ongoing to extricate bodies of the slain police personnel.
Casualties on MILF and BIFF's side is still unknown as of Monday afternoon.
Authorities said the SAF members were searching for Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli Bin Hir also known as "Marwan," a known explosives expert, and his Maguindanaon cohort Basit Usman.
Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said initial information indicated that Marwan was killed in the earlier police operation. Reports said the policemen were on the way home when they were engaged by the MILF rebels.
"According to reports, they were able to neutralize one of them, Marwan, although the other, Basit Usman, was able to escape. The government will do all its might in order to prevent the terrorists from moving around our area," said Gazmin.
The Philippine government and the MILF signed a comprehensive peace agreement in March, 2014, to end the decades-long armed conflict in southern Philippines.
Part of the agreement is to pass the Bangsamoro Basic Law, which will be the organic law for the envisioned Bangsamoro government that will replace the existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao by 2016.
The BIFF is the armed wing of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement which broke away from the MILF in 2010 because of disagreements over the peace talks with the government.
Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, government peace panel chairwoman, said the Aquino government was deeply saddened by the loss of lives during the tragic encounter in Mamasapano that involved members of the PNP and various armed groups, and sent its condolences to the families of those who perished.
Coronel-Ferrer said the government hopes to normalize the situation on the ground as soon as possible in order to prevent the displacement of civilians, give a full swing to the humanitarian effort, and prevent a repeat of the incident.
