Local bomb-maker killed in accidental IED blast in Maguindanao del Sur

COTABATO CITY —  A local terrorist was killed in an accidental explosion of an improvised bomb he was assembling in Barangay Malangog in Datu Unsay, Maguindanao del Sur on Saturday afternoon, the police and military reported.

Initial reports that reached the headquarters of the Army’s 6^th Infantry Division in the nearby Camp Siongco in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte on Monday  identified the fatality as Tantrex Amerudin Eskak, also known in the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters as Tantung Kamad.

His identity was confirmed by his former companions in the BIFF who had surrendered to units of the 6^th ID early on.

Eskak was reportedly trained in fabrication and handling of improvised explosive devices using ammonium nitrate, or potassium chlorate as blasting charges or mortar projectiles rigged with blasting contraptions by the slain Malaysian terrorist Marwan, whose real name is Zulkifli Bin Hir.

Marwan was killed in an encounter on Jan. 25, 2015 with members of the police’s elite Special Action Force in an interior area in Barangay Tukanalipao in Mamasapano town in Maguindanao del Sur.

Brig. Gen. Oriel L. Pangcog, commander of the Army’s 601^st Infantry Brigade, and officials of the 40^th Infantry Battalion told reporters that they learned of the incident from reliable informants which include barangay officials supporting anti-terror operations in Datu Unsay and nearby towns in Maguindanao del Sur.

Eskak was to set off the EID that killed him in a roadside police detachment in Datu Unsay, according to officials of the 40^th IB.

Brig. Gen. Allan C. Nobleza, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, said that they shall release a full report on the incident once their intelligence agents are done with their validation of the circumstances that led to the gruesome accidental death of Eskak.