IS Southeast Asia emir, his men in firefight with Philippine Army
Abu Zacharia and his men escape after a two-minute firefight in Lanao del Sur province.
LANAO DEL SUR: The Philippine Army reportedly had a firefight against the emir of IS Southeast Asia and his men but they managed to get away on Thursday (May 4) in the southern Lanao del Sur province.
Soldiers were checking on intelligence that Faharuddin Hadji Sattar, who is known by his nom de guerre Jer Mimbantas and Abu Zacharia, who is also the leader of the Maute Group, was on board a white Mitsubishi Adventure vehicle, media reports said.
The operating units, responding to intelligence reports, spotted the vehicle in Gadongan village in Pualas municipality.
As the troops were inspecting the vehicle, about 10 armed men opened fire, triggering a brief firefight. Outnumbered, the terrorists escaped and mingled with residents, the reports said.
“The two-minute firefight with the elements of the DI-Lanao incurred no casualties on the government side, while it is still undetermined on the enemy side,” said the Army’s 1st Infantry Division in a statement, using another name, short for “Dawlah Islamiyah - Lanao”, for the Maute Group.
“The troops recovered one M60 with 7.62mm, a general-purpose machine gun with 140 rounds of ammunition. (Pictured below, courtesy of 1st Infantry Division).
“As of this posting, the troops continuously conducted pursuit operations, and additional troops were inserted near the encounter site.”
The Philippine military launched a major offensive on Tuesday (May 2) against the Maute Group in the southern Maguindanao del Sur province.
The dawn air strikes and ground assaults were carried out at the group’s suspected lair in Datu Piang municipality.
The assault was part of an ongoing manhunt operation against the terrorist group allegedly behind the April 17 bus bombing in Sultan Kudarat province, the military said on Tuesday.
The Maute Group along with the Abu Sayyaf Group laid siege on Marawi City in Lanao del Sur province in 2017, triggering a five-month urban battle with government forces.
The conflict took more than 1,200 lives, mostly that of militants, before government forces retook the city in October of that year.
Government troops killed the siege leaders, Abu Sayyaf and then-IS Southeast Asia chief Isnilon Hapilon, as well as the Maute Group leaders, brothers Omar Maute and Abdullah Maute, towards the end of the conflict.
Since then, the Maute Group and IS Southeast Asia have been changing leadership, culminating in the leader today, Abu Zacharia, whose radicalisation at the hands of an Indonesian extremist was reported by this writer in a The Diplomat Magazine special report in June last year.