Philippine police nab terrorist wanted for cop killings, foil another cop ambush
He's among militants wanted for the murder of a southern town police chief and his man.
MAGUINDANAO DEL SUR: Philippine police arrested an alleged terrorist wanted for last year’s murder of two policemen and foiled his suspected attempt to kill another in the southern province of Maguindanao del Sur on Monday (Aug 7).
The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) police chief, Brig. Gen. Allan Nobleza, in a statement Tuesday, identified the suspect as Hamid Mling, a member of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) terror group.
Mling, 30, was one of the suspects in the murder of Lt. Reynaldo Samson, the Ampatuan town police chief, and Cpl. Salipudin Endab, in an ambush on Aug. 31 last year.
Samson and his men were to serve a warrant of arrest against BIFF leader Abdulkarim Hasim @ Commander Jacket in Kapinpilan village, Ampatuan, when ambushed by the BIFF.
Hasim was killed during a joint police-military operation at a bus terminal in Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat province, in February this year.
Citing intelligence information, Nobleza said Mling was seen suspiciously roaming in Ampatuan town’s covered court in Poblacion village, allegedly waiting for a chance to shoot another police officer securing sports activities.
Mling, listed as a BIFF member operating in Ampatuan, yielded a .45-caliber pistol. Charges for violation of the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act were being prepared against him.
“The gun seized from the suspect will be subjected to ballistic examination at the Regional Forensic Unit, BARMM, for investigation and verification,” Nobleza said in the statement.