Wanted terrorist killed in Maguindanao
Local News • 15:00 PM Wed May 12, 2021
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By:
John M. Unson
Kopang Sahak was wanted by the Department of National Defense for acts of terror. (From 6th Infantry Division)
MAGUINDANAO --- Soldiers shot dead a wanted member of the Dawlah Islamiya group in an encounter Tuesday in Datu Saudi Ampatuan town.
Major Gen. Juvymax Uy, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said Wednesday the Kopang Sahak, also known as “Tarzan,” died on the spot from multiple gunshot wounds.
Sahak belonged to the Dawlah Islamiya’s Ansa’r Al-Khilafa Philippines bloc based in Sarangani province.
Army intelligence agents are still trying to establish how he got into Barangay Dapiawan in Datu Saudi, where there is presence of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, which is operating in the fashion of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
Sahak was killed by personnel of the 1st Mechanized Brigade dispatched to check his presence in Barangay Dapiawan based on reports by vigilant residents.
He was among dozens of terrorists in Arrest Order 216 from the Department of National Defense, issued in connection with the 2017 deadly siege of Marawi City by combined members of the Maute terror group in Lanao del Sur and Abu Sayyaf gunmen from Basilan.
The Ans’ar Al-Khilafa and the BIFF are both using the ISIS flag as revolutionary banners.
Uy said soldiers were forced to neutralize Sahak when he and his companions opened fire, provoking a gunfight that resulted in his death.
The companions of Sahak escaped when they sensed that more soldiers were closing in from three directions.