Pikit, Cotabato”•Composite government troops and the extremist Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters clashed on Sunday, leading to the capture of a bomb expert and the killing of 15 suspected terrorists in South Liguasan Marsh, the military said Monday.
Brig. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, commander of the Sixth Army Infantry Division in Maguindanao, said the military accounted for the 15 terrorists killed, eight wounded and the arrest of a bomb expert and his wife after a pre-dawn raid on the terrorists’ lair.
Sobejana said the operation backed by a satellite-guided air strike resulted in the destruction of a workshop producing improvised explosive devices run by the Daesh-inspired terrorists.
A “Daesh-inspired” group is one that is influenced by the social media-based propaganda and recruitment activities of the Islamic State group.
Military field reports identified the arrested bomb expert as Ustadz Anwar Ali, 22, who surrendered with his wife Asnaya Ali, 20, after an hour-long encounter.
Sobejana credited the 33rd Infantry Battalion under Lt. Col. Harold M Cabunoc, the Fourth Special Action Force Battalion led by Police Supt. Darwin Padla, and the 61st Division Reconnaissance Company under First Lt Ruel Fortuna.
“The terrorists traded fire with the 33rd Army Infantry Battalion troopers, but they were out-maneuvered after about an hour of firefight,” Sobejana said.
Sobejana, a rare Valor awardee for gallantry in a past engagement, said the soldiers had also confiscated a cal .50 Sniper Rifle and cal 5.56mm M4 Carbine from the extremists.
He showed satellite-generated images of the target and the final blow of an air strike in cross-axes of precision to prevent unnecessary casualties on non-combatants.
Learning the lesson from the Mamasapano debacle of Jan. 27, 2015, the military said the troops coordinated their offensive with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which is supposed to seal a peace agreement with the government.
The military said the group that operated the IED laboratory was the subject of an early-morning air strike on Sunday.
The follow-up in ground troops operations succeeded in isolating the terrorists to prevent a spill-over of the clashes to the nearby towns.
