11 Dawlah terrorists die in clash with soldiers

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Up to 11 members of the Dawlah Islamiya died in a two-hour running gunfight in the hinterland Barangay Tuayan in Datu Hofer, Maguindanao del Sur on Friday afternoon.

The Army’s 601st Infantry Brigade, in a report on Saturday to Major Gen. Alex Rillera, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said that the hostilities erupted when the slain terrorists opened fire at soldiers approaching their location from two directions to check on reports by residents of Barangay Tuayan about their presence in the area.

Personnel of units of the 601st Infantry Brigade found two M14 and five M16 rifles and three B40 shoulder-fire anti-tank rocket launchers beside the cadavers of the slain members of the Dawlah Islamiya.

Local officials said three Dawlah Islamiya members were wounded in the gunfight, seen being carried away by companions who scampered away when they ran out of ammunition.

The Dawlah Islamiya, operating in the fashion of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, has a reputation for bombing passenger vehicles and business establishments whose owners refuse to pay protection money on a monthly basis.

Members of the multi-sector municipal peace and order councils in Datu Hofer and in nearby towns had confirmed that the bodies of the 11 Dawlah Islamiya terrorists had been turned over to barangay officials for proper burial.

Rillera said they have received reports that the slain Dawlah Islamiya terrorists were to put up roadside bombs that can be detonated from a distance using mobile phones along secluded stretches of roads in barangays whose residents are actively supporting the anti-terror operations of 6th ID.