MILF thwarts Dawlah Islamiya attack on Army detachment in Maguindanao
COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front killed seven Dawlah Islamiya gunmen who tried to attack an Army detachment in Mamasapano town in Maguindanao Tuesday.
The slain terrorists were among more than 30 gunmen on light trucks and motorcycles headed to to Barangay Tuka, Mamasapano where a detachment of the Army's 33rd Infantry Battalion is located.
Maj. Gen. Juvymax Uy of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division said Wednesday that MILF members led by Samad Simpal had promptly blocked the convoy at the border of Shariff Aguak and Shariff Saidona Mustapha towns, killing seven terrorists in an ensuing gunfight.
The Dawlah Islamiya has a strong presence in Shariff Saidona Mustapha town in the second district of Maguindanao.
The Dawlah Islamiya, also known as the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, operates in the fashion of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and has been trying to derail the peace process between Malacañang and the MILF.
The MILF's chairman, Ahod Ebrahim, is the appointed chief minister of the newly-established Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Army intelligence sources said the Dawlah Islamiya planned to surround the Army detachment and fire assault rifles at troops.
"The terror plot was foiled immediately by our friends in the MILF," Uy told reporters by online messenger.
The MILF and the national government are bound an agreement to cooperate in addressing security issues in potential conflict areas in all provinces of the now 23-month Bangsamoro region.
Uy said the seven slain terrorists were followers of Commander Motorola, a henchman of Iman Karialan, leader of one of three factions in the Dawlah Islamiya.
Karialan, a radical cleric, is tagged in deadly bombings in central Mindanao in the past four years.
Uy said their units have cautioned local officials and ranking MILF commanders in Shariff Saidona Mustapha and Mamasapano towns to guard against possible retaliation by the Dawlah Islamiya.
The group has a reputation for bombing public places and conveyances to avenge deaths of members in clashes with pursuing police and military personnel.
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