2 alleged bomb couriers slain in Sultan Kudarat shootout

ESPERANZA, Sultan Kudarat — The municipal police here, backed by soldiers of the Army’s 7th Infantry Battalion, are on heightened alert for possible retaliatory attacks following the killing of two suspected bomb couriers in a shootout on Monday.

Police here said they neutralized two suspected bomb couriers during a shootout along the national highway and seized improvised explosive devices and illegal drugs.

Captain Jetro Doligas, Esperanza municipal police chief, said the two gunmen ignored police officers implementing an election gun ban checkpoint in the borders of Sultan Kudarat and Maguindanao at past 4 p.m. on Monday.

Doligas said the police and soldiers flagged down the vehicle driven by Guialudin Kasan, 30, of Datu Hofer, Maguindanao, but he ignored it and sped away.

This prompted the police to chase the suspects who later traded shots with law enforcers in Barangay Sagasa, also in Esperanza.

Kasan and his companion, identified only as a certain “Bronx,” were critically injured and were rushed to a hospital but died along the way, the police said.

Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) seized from the suspects a cal. 22 pistol, improvised explosive device, 37 sachets of suspected shabu, ammunition, mobile phones, and the Suzuki multi-carry vehicle they were driving.

It remained unknown where the two suspects were to bring the improvised bombs and the illegal drugs.