Authorities anticipate retaliations for death of Dawlah leader
Mindanao Armed Conflict • 18:15 PM Sat Oct 30, 2021
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By:
John M. Unson
Photo: The 6th ID has assured the public that soldiers are out, ready against retaliations by followers of Salahuddin Hassan) (John Unson)
COTABATO CITY --- Authorities on Saturday allayed fears of possible retaliations by followers of the leader of the Dawlah Islamiya who was killed by soldiers in Talayan, Maguindanao before dawn Friday.
The slain Salahuddin Hassan had followers trained in fabrication and handling of improvised explosive devices.
Major Gen. Juvymax Uy, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said Saturday they have enough covert operatives now observing the areas where Hassan has followers.
“We assure the public that the 6th ID will prevent any retaliatory plot by his followers,” Uy, also commander of the anti-terror Task Force Central, said.
Hassan, wanted for more than 30 deadly bombings in central Mindanao in the past five years, and his wife Jehana, were killed in a shootout with soldiers early Friday in Barangay Damablak in Talayan, Maguindanao.
Policemen and soldiers were to arrest Hassan peacefully then but neutralized him instead when he opened fire on the teams approaching his house from two directions.
Hassan, whose group operates in the fashion of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, carried a P1.3 million bounty on his head.
He was tagged in the September 2, 2016 bombing of a night market in Davao City that left 14 dead and hurt more than 60 others.
The Dawlah Islamiya that Hassan founded about six years ago and uses the flag of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria as its banner has two subgroups, the Ansa’r Khilafa Philippines and the Al-khobar.
The Al-khobar was responsible for the bombing of four buses and the burning of another in a spate of attacks in central Mindanao and in Bukidnon province in the past 23 months.
Uy said military units in cities and provinces under 6th ID’s jurisdiction are now guarding against possible attacks by irate followers of Hassan.
“Actually that is quite remote but we are not taking chances just the same,” Uy said.
The Dawlah Islamiya and its ally, the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, where Hassan started as a bomb-maker, are feared for bombing non-military targets to avenge deaths of members in clashes with pursuing state security forces.
Brig. Gen. Eden Ugale, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, told reporters Saturday non-uniformed agents from the Maguindanao provincial police have been deployed in public places vulnerable to bomb attacks as part of PRO-BAR’s security efforts following Hassan’s demise.
Ugale said they have also tapped the support of local executives in trying to thwart any retaliation by followers of Hassan.
The operation on Friday that resulted in the death of Hassan and his wife was assisted by PRO-BAR through the Maguindanao provincial police force.