COTABATO CITY — Government security forces killed at least two followers of Islamic State (IS) in a clash in Tawi-Tawi on Sunday (May 3), according to the military on Monday (May 4).
Members of the Marine Battalion Landing Team-6 and policemen were on patrol at the village of Taruk, Tanduan town when they encountered an undetermined number of members of the homegrown terror group Abu Sayyaf, said Col. Arturo Rojas, head of the anti-terror Joint Task Force Tawi-Tawi.
Abu Sayyaf had joined forces with IS in an attempt to turn Marawi City into an IS caliphate.
Two Sayyaf gunmen, identified as July Haber and Kamsel Ampang, were killed in the gunfight, according to Rojas.
Recovered from the clash site were an M-16 assault rifle, 123 rounds of ammunition for Armalite rifles, several magazines and a rifle grenade.
Rojas said Haber was an Abu Sayyaf member who arrived at the village of Dungon, Panglima Sugala town in Tawi-Tawi in May 2017 yet.
Haber, according to Rojas, was also involved in the illegal drug trade along with another suspect, Odin Masihul, alias Baby, Bedi and Ombak.
Rojas said Masihul had been killed on Nov. 20, 2019 in a buy-bust operation in Sapa-Sapa town, Tawi-Tawi.
Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, regional military commander, said the bodies of the slain terrorists had been turned over to the police station of Tandubas town.
“Let us continue to collaborate in the fight against terrorism and criminalities (sic) and work for peace in the communities,” Sobejana said.
Among the most brutal armed groups operating in Mindanao, Abu Sayyaf members had beheaded two Canadian hostages and a German captive three years ago.
In January 2019, an Abu Sayyaf unit was also found involved in an attack on a Catholic church in Jolo which left 23 people dead.