'Terror group member' slain in SoCot drug op

GENERAL SANTOS CITY – An alleged member of an Islamic State-inspired local terrorist group operating in South Cotabato province was killed in an anti-drug operation in Polomolok town on Thursday afternoon.

Lt. Col. Alex Joe Orcajada, chief of Polomolok municipal police station, identified the slain suspect Friday as Mohalidin Marot, reportedly a known drug pusher and part of a local cell of the Dawlah Islamiya-Socsargen Khatiba based in the area.

Orcajada said Marot opened fire on law enforcement authorities during a buy-bust operation around 3:10 p.m. Thursday in Barangay Lumakil in Polomolok.

The operation was backed by elements from the South Cotabato police’s Mobile Force Battalion and the Army’s 10th Special Forces Company's intelligence unit, in coordination with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Region 12.

During the transaction, Orcjada said Marot sold a sachet of suspected shabu worth PHP500 to a police officer who posed as a buyer.

Marot attempted to flee, drew a handgun, and opened fire after noticing the presence of the other operatives, the police official said.

Orcajada said the suspect yielded a .45-caliber handgun, PHP500 marked bill used in the entrapment, and a sling bag containing four more sachets of suspected shabu valued at PHP6,860.

Citing intelligence reports, Orcajada said Marot acts as a “spotter” for the Dawlah Islamiya-Socsargen Khatiba.

“He was tasked to monitor our movements and those of other friendly forces within Polomolok,” he said in an interview.

The Dawlah Islamiya-Socsargen Khatiba is a remnant of the defunct Nilong Group and the Ansar Al-Khilafa Philippines that previously operated in South Cotabato and Sarangani province.

The group, which had pledged support to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, had been tagged as behind a string of criminal activities and terror attacks in the area, including the bomb attack in front of a lying-in clinic here in September 2018 that left eight people wounded. (PNA)