Mindanao Armed Conflict

MAGUINDANAO --- Two soldiers were killed while seven Dawlah Islamiya bandits were hurt in a spate of clashes in Datu Salibo town Wednesday, the 6th Infantry Division said.

Lt. Colonel Anhouvic Atilano, 6th ID spokesperson, confirmed to DXMS Radyo Bida that two soldiers were slain and 13 others were injured.  He refused to identify the slain infantrymen until thier immediate families are officially informed.  

KORONADAL CITY  – Police announced today the death of one of the suspects in the 2018 bombing in Gen. Santos City during Sunday’s law enforcement operation in POlomolok, South Cotabato, police said.

Lt. Colonel Lino Capellan, speaking for police in the Soccsksargen region, identified the slain bombing suspect as Ben Usman, a member of Ansar al-Kilafa terrorist organization who has warrant of arrest for multiple murders.

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao – A five-member siblings who were communist rebels have decided to yield to the government through the military because life in the mountains has been unbearable, officials said.

Lieutenant Colonel Valencia, commander of the 7th Infantry “Tapat” Battalion, said the five members of New Peoples’ Army (NPA) belonged to the Sub-Regional Committee-East Daguma Front who voluntarily surrendered to the 7th IB.

MAGUINDANAO --- The outlawed Dawlah Islamiya terror group on Monday tried to bomb a military vehicle full of soldiers but missed.

No one was hurt in the roadside bombing along a stretch of the Cotabato-Isulan Highway in Barangay Meta in Datu Unsay town in Maguindanao but the incident triggered panic among villagers.

Police and Army officials said the improvised explosive device, packed with fragments of cast iron with jagged edges, went off just after an Army KM450 Kia light truck carrying 10 soldiers had passed by.

MAGUINDANAO -- A police master sergeant and a villager were killed while four others were hurt in a bomb attack Thursday night in Shariff Aguak town.

The roadside bomb went off while a vehicle carrying policemen led by Major Erwin Tabora was passing by a secluded stretch of a road traversing the border of Maguindanao’s Shariff Aguak and Datu Hofer towns.

COTABATO CITY --- Authorities foiled Friday an attempt by a Dawlah Islamiya member to smuggle a home-made bomb from Datu Saudi town to somewhere south of Maguindanao province.

Bomb courier Alimudin Unggala was intercepted by combined personnel of the Maguindanao provincial police and agents of military intelligence units in Barangay Madia in Datu Saudi, Maguindanao riding a motorcycle en route to Shariff Aguak town in the same province. 

CAMP SIONGCO, MAGUINDANAO - KINUNDINA ng 6^th Infantry Division ang naganap na grenade attack sa isang quarantine checkpoint sa Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao kagabi na ikinasawi ng isang CAFGU at ikinasugat ng isa pa.

Kinilala ni 6^th ID spokesperson Lt. Colonel DingDong Atilano ang nasawi CAFGU Alon habang ang nasugatan naman ay si CAFGU Moambing.

Sila ay naka duty sa Army-Police quarantine checkpoint malapit sa barangay Labu-Labu 1.

COTABATO CITY --- A police team killed Wednesday in a brief shootout in Shariff Aguak town in Maguindanao four Dawlah Islamiya members out on a bombing mission.

Personnel of the Maguindanao provincial police were forced to neutralize the four bandits riding together a Suzuki pick-up type multicab when they refused to have their vehicle inspected for firearms and explosives while in Barangay Timbangan in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao.

KIDAPAWAN CITY  – Police arrested early today a suspected member of communist New Peoples’ Army and seized from him two firearms and a home-made explosives during law enforcement operations in Magpet, North Cotabato.

Police Major Judge Barotas, chief of Magpet municipal police office, said the police, backed by soldiers from the 72^nd Infantry Battalion swooped down into the house of Ronilo Ansabo and his wife Leleth, both residents of Sitio Tagaytay, Barangay Mahongkog, Magpet.

GENERAL SANTOS CITY – An alleged member of an Islamic State-inspired local terrorist group was killed while three others managed to escape in an encounter with police operatives in Polomolok town, South Cotabato province on Tuesday evening.

Capt. Randy Apostol, deputy chief of the Polomolok municipal police station, said Wednesday the still-unidentified suspect was slain during a shootout with patrolling police officers in Barangay Pagalungan past 10 p.m.