Abandoned firearms of local terrorists seized
Mindanao Armed Conflict • 19:45 PM Sun May 21, 2023
421
By:
John M. Unson
The firearms found by soldiers in Barangay Galakit, Pagalungan are now in the custody of the police. (From 90th IB, Phil. Army)
COTABATO CITY --- Soldiers on Saturday seized four firearms left by members of a local terrorist group spotted in a secluded village in Pagalungan, Maguindanao del Sur who scampered away when they noticed soldiers approaching their location from three directions.
Army Major Gen. Alex Rillera, commander of the 6th Infantry Division, told reporters Sunday the firearms were left by men who scampered away when they noticed the personnel of the Army’s 90th Infantry Battalion approaching their location in Barangay Galakit in Pagalungan from three directions.
They left an M14 rifle, an M16 rifle and two .45 caliber pistols as they fled in haste.
The soldiers were dispatched to Barangay Galakit after villagers reported sightings in the area of members of the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, overheard planning to collect “protection money” from farmers in the area.
Maguindanao del Sur’s adjoining Pagalungan and Montawal towns are near the 220,000-hectare Liguasan Delta, where there is presence of the allies BIFF, Dawlah Islamiya and Al-Khobar, together tagged in all deadly bombings in cities and provinces in central Mindanao since 2014.