6th ID: 7 Dawlah Islamiya killed, 8 IEDs recovered in Liguasan operations

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — The military said soldiers chasing Dawlah Islamiya terrorists in the Liguasan Delta since a week ago found eight home-made bombs and a dozen anti-tank rockets along the escape routes.

Major Gen. Alex Rillera, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said Monday the seized improvised explosive devices are now in military custody.

Local executives and senior police and military officials told reporters Monday that they received tips from villagers in the towns of Pagalungan and Montawal, both in Maguindanao del Sur, and in Pikit, Cotabato that the IEDs were supposedly for bomb attacks during the Ramadhan season.

Soldiers first pounded with artillery last week the Dawlah Islamiya lairs in the Liguasan Delta after villagers reported sightings of armed men led by Almoben Sebud, wanted for recent bombings of buses in central Mindanao. 

The military also said seven of Sebud's alleged followers were killed in the artillery strikes.