Dawlah bomber killed, 2 captured in Maguindanao

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines — Soldiers shot dead a Dawlah Islamiya bomb-maker and captured two others in an encounter in Shariff Saidona Mustapha town on Saturday.

Local officials and barangay leaders identified the slain senior Dawlah Islamiya member as Tong, whom they said was an expert in fabrication of improvised explosive devices.

His two henchmen, one also named Tong and the other, a certain Nondo, have been turned over to the local police after they voluntarily yielded to soldiers when they ran out of ammunition.

The duo turned in components for IEDs, assorted ammunition and 40 millimeter grenade projectiles.

Soldiers also found beside the cadaver of their slain leader an M-14 assault rifle and parts of a home-made M-79 grenade launcher.

Two other Dawlah Islamiya members, initially identified only as Madsid and Kusain, were also wounded in Saturday’s gunfight in Barangay Nabundas.

Major Gen. Juvymax Uy, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said Sunday the shootout in Barangay Nabundas erupted when the long wanted Tong and his companions attacked a team from the 33rd Infantry Battalion dispatched to check on their reported presence in the area.

“The 33rd IB was notified by vigilant residents about the convergence of armed men in their barangay. A team was sent there to verify the reports from local residents and so there was this encounter,” Uy said.

Traditional barangay elders have confirmed to reporters that the Dawlah Islamiya gunmen who figured in the encounter carried two wounded companions as they scampered away when they sensed that Army reinforcements were closing in.

The Dawlah Islamiya uses the flag of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria as its banner.

It has sub-groups, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, the Al-Khobar extortion gang and the equally notorious Ansa’r Khilafa Philippines, all tagged in deadly bombings in central Mindanao since 2014.