CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao del Norte – A suspected member of the Dawlah Islamiyah was blasted to death after an improvised bomb he was carrying prematurely went off Sunday morning in Maguindanao del Sur.
Major Saber Balogan, spokesperson of 601st Infantry Brigade, said Commander Pagadian of the Dawlah Islamiyah Torayfe Group was killed when the improvised explosive device he was carryin exploded in Barangay Sambulawan, Datu Salibo, Maguindanao del Sur at around 7:30 a.m.
No civilians were wounded but the blast sent jitters to residents of Sambulawan, a populated village of Datu Salibo.
The blast came on the eve of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections on Monday, October 30.
Balogan, however, could not confirm whether or not the incident had something to do with the elections.
Datu Salibo is among the areas of operation of Dawlah Islamiyah and extremists Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIFF), a local terror group that pledged allegiance to ISIS.
On October 14, a suspected local terrorist was likewise killed in an accidental explosion of an improvised bomb he was assembling in Barangay Malangog in Datu Unsay, Maguindanao del Sur.
The military identified the slain bomb courier as Tantrex Amerudin Eskak, a BIFF member.