2 Dawlah men killed, 2 wounded in Maguindanao del Sur clash

COTABATO CITY — Soldiers killed two Dawlah Islamiya members in a brief encounter before dawn on Sunday, June 22, in Barangay Libutan, Mamasapano, Maguindanao del Sur.

Senior officials of Philippine Army units in Maguindanao del Sur and police intelligence agents in the province told reporters on Monday, June 23, that the two fatalities, Tahir Salim Suweb and Benladin Adi Kamid, are both from the Hassan faction of the now weakened Dawlah Islamiya. 

The Dawlah Islamiya and its ally, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, are both tagged in all bombings of buses and commercial establishments in Central Mindanao since 2014.

Two companions of Suweb and Kamid, who were wounded in the incident, Junie Kayogen Leosen, and Rasul Mendoza Kariman, were immediately brought by soldiers to a hospital for treatment.

Brig. Gen. Edgar Catu, commander of the Army’s 601st Infantry Brigade, told reporters that the gunfight in Barangay Libutan erupted when the four terrorists opened fire at personnel of the 33rd Infantry Battalion dispatched to validate their presence in the area, as villagers had reported. 

Catu and 6th Infantry Division commander Major Gen. Donald Gumiran told reporters that local residents, including traditional Moro leaders in Mamasapano, tipped off the 33rd Infantry Battalion about the four Dawlah Islamiya members in Barangay Libutan.

Soldiers found two M16 assault rifles, a .45 caliber pistol, and components for improvised explosive devices beside the cadavers of Suweb and Kamid.