By Francis Wakefield The military today said the death toll in military operations against the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Maguindanao has already reached 44 with 26 wounded. BIFF (MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO) Lt. Col. Gerry Besana, the Civil Military Operations (CMO) head of the Army's 6th Infantry Division, said the death toll on the two-day fighting was a result of ground and air strike operations to flush out the enemy. "The official number is 44 already," Besana said. "On the first day a significant number were killed as a result of ground operations, then on the second day there was artillery and. close air support," he added. Besana said the fighting started on Thursday (March 8) and ended the following day. He said troops are currently conducting pursuit operations against more or less 200 other terrorists who retreated in different directions. Aside from the slain BIFF members, government soldiers were able to recover on the battlefield many IEDs (improvised explosive devices), firearms and rounds of ammunition. Basena said at present, their primary concern is the plight of IDPs or internally displaced persons who were affected by the two-day fighting. "This is not the first time that fighting occurred there. It can be recalled that two weeks ago a rido (clan feud) between two MILF groups, Commander Wahig of the 108th Base Command and the 1015th Bade Command under Commander Haon erupted. affecting local residents," he said. Basena said the almost one-week fighting displaced about 1,800 families. With regard to the fighting on Thursday and Friday, about 500 families were displaced based on the figure provided by the Saudi Ampatuan administrator. Maj. Gen. Arnel dela Vega, 6th ID commander, earlier said soldiers have been vigilantly guarding the entire Central Mindanao to constrict the firefight in specific engagement areas and continue to pursue the remnants of the terror group.