COTABATO CITY — Five members of the Dawlah Islamiya were killed in a gunfight with policemen and soldiers in Barangay Bangco in Sultan Naga Dimaporo, Lanao del Norte on Wednesday, October 23.
Senior officers in the Lanao del Norte Provincial Police Office and the commander of the military’s Western Mindanao Command, Army Lt. Gen. William Gonzales, on Wednesday confirmed the bloody incident which left five Dawlah Islamiya terrorists dead, among them the long-wanted Uya Duma.
Combined agents of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-10 and soldiers from units under the 1st Infantry Division were supposed to serve Duma warrants of arrest in a secluded area in Barangay Bangco, however, he and his companions resisted, provoking a deadly gunfight.
Duma and his four followers died instantly from multiple bullet wounds sustained in the encounter.
Duma is wanted for multiple murder, multiple frustrated murder, arson, kidnapping and large-scale shabu trafficking cases that are pending in courts in different provinces in Region 10.
Army Major Gen. Gabriel Viray III, commander of the 1st ID, and police officers in the province had separately announced that a Dawlah Islamiya member was wounded in the clash, while another was arrested after he ran out of ammunition and tried to flee but was eventually cornered and detained by pursuing policemen and soldiers.
Officers in the Sultan Naga Dimaporo Municipal Police Station said Maranao barangay officials and religious leaders led policemen and soldiers to the exact location of Duma in Barangay Bangco.
The joint Army-police team involved in the operation had seized three M16 assault rifles, three M1 Garand rifles, two .45 caliber pistols and fragmentation grenades scattered in the scene of the encounter.