Gov't troops neutralize Dawlah Islamiya leader 

SULTAN KUDARAT ---- A joint Army-police team killed in a brief shootout Wednesday in Esperanza town a senior leader of the outlawed Dawlah Islamiya.

Jazzer Nilong, tagged in a recent bombing in General Santos City, died on the spot from multiple bullet wounds sustained in the gunfight with personnel of the Army’s 7^th Infantry Battalion and members of the Police Regional Office-12 in Barangay Saliao in Esperanza, Sultan Kudarat.

Soldiers and policemen were to peacefully arrest him for his involvement in a deadly bomb attack in General Santos City and for the murder of Police Capt. Herman Gabat but neutralized him instead when he pulled out a pistol and opened fire.

Major Gen. Juvymax Uy, commander of the Army’s 6^th Infantry Division, said Nilong, also known as Khalid Nilong, was a senior member of the Dawlah Islamiya, also known as the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.

The group operates in the fashion of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

Uy said the operation that resulted in Nilong’s death was launched after confidential tipsters informed the Esperanza municipal police and the 7^th IB of his presence in Barangay Saliao.

Nilong has been in a small roadside hotel in Barangay Saliao three days before he perished in Wednesday’s joint Army-police anti-terror operation.

Besides his .45 caliber pistol, police and military investigators found in his possession components for home-made bombs, a 60 millimeter mortar projectile and a rifle grenade, both convertible to improvised explosive devices that can be detonated from a distance using mobile phones.

Uy said he is thankful to residents of Esperanza who led government operatives to the exact location of Nilong during an operation Wednesday, assisted by members of the local police and agents from the South Cotabato provincial police command.