Dawlah Islamiya leader Abu Zacharia killed in Marawi clash
MARAWI CITY, Philippines — A team of soldiers and police killed the “emir” of the Dawlah Islamiya in a 10-minute clash in Marawi City before dawn Wednesday.
Police Brig. Gen. Allan Nobleza, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, said Wednesday a raiding team was to serve Faharudin Pumbuaya Pangalian different warrants of arrest but killed him instead when he resisted and provoked a gunfight.
Pangalian, more known as Abu Zacharia in the Dawlah Islamiya and touted as the group’s emir — meaning ruler in Arabic — was wanted for more than 20 high-profile criminal cases pending in different courts.
Nobleza said the operation meant to peacefully arrest Pangalian in the Sarimanok area that went haywire and resulted in his death involved different military and police units and intelligence agents of the Army-led anti-terror Task Force Marawi under the Western Mindanao Command.
Sources from the Lanao del Sur Provincial Peace and Order Council told reporters it was Maranao villagers supportive of the peace and security programs of Gov. Mamintal Adiong, Jr. who reported the presence of Pangalian in Sarimanok area, enabling the police and military to locate him in the area.
Adiong, chairman of the Lanao del Sur PPOC, last week called on residents to help units of PRO-BAR and the 103rd Infantry Brigade covering Lanao del Sur clear all of the barangays in this city and the 39 towns in the province of Dawlah Islamiya presence.
“We are thankful to the vigilant Marawi City residents who led the joint Army and police raiding team to the hideout of Abu Zacharia," Lt. Gen. Roy Galido, WestMinCom commander, said.
Pangalian was the leader of all Dawlah Islamiya groups in Mindanao and had links to the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.
Both groups have a reputation for fomenting hatred for non-Muslims and are together tagged in all deadly bomb attacks in Mindanao since 2014.
Nobleza and Galido separately told reporters Pangalian was also recently proclaimed East Asian emir of the Dawlah Islamiya by leaders of different extremists groups in Mindanao and their supporters abroad.
“We are bracing for possible retaliations. We will never give his sympathizers a chance to do that,” Nobleza said.
Police forensic experts found grenades, improvised explosive devices and two M16 assault rifles in the hideout of Pangalian, where soldiers and policemen felled him with rifle shots for resisting arrest.
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