Philippines arrests 12 gunmen in 'IS area of operations', seizes firearms
Gunmen's affiliation being ascertained but pro-Islamic State Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters reportedly active in the area.
COTABATO CITY: Twelve gunmen were arrested Monday (Aug. 26) by authorities in an area where a local pro-Islamic State (IS) terrorist group was said to be operating in the southern Philippine province of Maguindanao del Sur.
Soldiers and police, acting on a tip from a civilian informant, arrested the men in Pandag town for possessing unlicensed firearms, the Philippine Army’s 6th Infantry Division (6ID) said in a statement.
Lt. Col. Roberto Betita, commander of the Philippine Army’s 1st Mechanized Infantry Battalion, stated that officers from the Pandag municipal police office swiftly responded to intelligence about armed individuals in Barangay (village) Poblacion Pandag.
According to Betita, the information indicated an unspecified number of armed men were inside an abandoned building in the area.
The suspects did not resist arrest and surrendered their weapons peacefully.
The authorities confiscated two M16 rifles, five .45-caliber pistols and ammunition from the group.
The police are still investigating the group's affiliations, but Pandag is known to be an area where the Dawlah Islmiyah-linked Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) are active, according to a report by the Philippine News Agency.
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Dawlah Islamiyah, which is Arabic for Islamic State, is the umbrella term used in the southern Philippines to refer to local terror groups aligned with the Middle East terror group IS.
Several BIFF factions, along with other local terror outfits such as the Abu Sayyaf Group, Maute Group and Hassan Group, are aligned with IS.
Brigadier General Andre Santos, commander of the Army's 1st Mechanized Brigade, praised the civilian who provided the tip, which helped prevent potential terrorist activities.
"We appreciate the efforts of civilians in helping state forces fight terrorism in their localities," Santos was quoted saying in the 6ID statement.
Maj. Gen. Antonio Nafarrete, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, reiterated in the statement the government's peace offers, emphasising that accepting these offers would be beneficial for the individuals involved.
Pro-IS groups have been involved in atrocities in the southern Philippines including suicide bombings and arguably the most infamous five-month siege of Marawi City in the southern province of Lanao del Sur in 2017.
Philippine government forces liberated the city and killed siege leaders including Isnilon Hapilon, IS’s leader for Southeast Asia, in October of that year.
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