Mindanao Armed Conflict

NORTH COTABATO --- Soldiers shot dead Wednesday a Dawlah Islamiya bomber wanted for toppling down a number of power transmission towers in different North Cotabato towns in 2015.

Katato Samad of the Dawlah Islamiya’s self-styled special operations group was killed in a brief encounter with servicemen of the Army’s 7^th Infantry Battalion in Pikit, North Cotabato.

The Dawlah Islamiya, also known as the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, is operating in the fashion of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

NORTH COTABATO --- Three more members of the Dawlah Islamiya surrendered to the 7^th Infantry Battalion of the Army’s  602^nd Brigade in North Cotabato province Wednesday.

The confessed terrorists  Terek Nao, Tato Bantas and Tatowan Gandawali are now undergoing tactical debriefing as a prelude to their rehabilitation and reintroduction to mainstream society. 

They turned in one .50 caliber Barret sniping rifle, an M79 grenade launcher, a 9 millimeter machine pistol and two home-made roadside bombs.

COTABATO CITY ---Two key members of the Maute terror bloc from Butig town in Lanao del Sur surrendered Tuesday to the Army’s 103^rd Brigade.

Metalicop Ambayan Bembang and Sabidra Sisomnong Panulong, who have confessed to have participated in attacks on soldiers based in Lanao del Sur, are now under military custody.

They have renounced their membership in the Maute group, also known as the Dawlah Islamiya that instigated the deadly and devastating conflict in Marawi City that lasted from May 23 to October 16, 2017.

COTABATO CITY --- State forces are in pursuit of gunmen who snatched physician Daniel Moreno Tuesday night in Jolo town in Sulu province.

The Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao said in an initial statement Wednesday morning that the Sulu provincial police and military units in the island province are now cooperating in locating Moreno and his captors.

COTABATO CITY --- Soldiers shot dead three members of the New People’s Army in a brief encounter Sunday in Senator Ninoy Aquino town in Sultan Kudarat province.

The gunfight erupted when NPAs attacked a team from the Army’s 37^th Infantry Battalion of the 603^rd Brigade out to check the reported presence of rebels in Barangay Bugso, Senator Ninoy Aquino collecting “protection money” from villagers. 

COTABATO CITY --- Christians in Sulu province prayed together for their safety amid the somber commemoration of the first anniversary of the Jolo cathedral bombing that killed 26 worshipers.

There has not been any closure yet to the January 27, 2019 attack that also injured 116 other churchgoers.

Monsignor Romeo Saniel, apostolic administrator of the Vicariate of Jolo, on Wednesday called on Catholics in Sulu to continue praying for the full recovery of surviving blast victims from injuries and trauma.

COTABATO CITY -- Suspected members of the Dawlah Islamiya shot and wounded an off duty soldier in another attack here Sunday.

Private 1^st Class Ryan Itao, who is assigned in the headquarters of the Army’s 6^th Infantry Division in Datu Odin Sinsuat town in Maguindanao, sustained bullet wounds in the shoulder and neck.

He was on a motorcycle when he was attacked while motoring through the De Mazenod area in Barangay Rosary Heights 5 northeast of Cotabato City.

ZAMBOANGA CITY -- Four drug personalities with alleged ties with the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) were killed while a soldier was wounded in a clash in the province of Tawi-Tawi, military officials said Monday.

Brig. Gen. Camilo Balutan, Joint Task Force Tawi-Tawi commander, said the firefight occurred around 5 a.m. Sunday in Barangay Lakit-Lakit, Sapa-Sapa, Tawi-Tawi, when the troops of the Marine Battalion Landing Team-6 (MBLT-6) chanced upon a group of gunmen while conducting a "focused military operation."

MAGUINDANAO --- Two feuding Moro clans ended Sunday their bloody “rido” that exacted a number of fatalities on both sides.

Rido means clan war in the Maranaw and Maguindanaon vernaculars.

JOLO, Sulu — Brgy. Saldang, Parang, Sulu at about 3:00 PM, Police received an information that there were two suspicious armed persons riding on a motorcycle in the vicinity of So. Gagandilan, Brgy. Tagbak, Indanan, Sulu. Acting on the information, personnel of Indanan Municipal Police Station immediately proceeded to the area and upon arrival thereat, the two suspicious persons riding the motorcycle fled towards Parang, Sulu town direction upon sensing the arrival of responding PNP personnel.