Suspected terrorist firearms, explosives cache discovered in Mindanao
Filipino government troops find the war materiel while pursuing terror groups.
MAGUINDANAO DEL NORTE: Philippine government forces pursuing terrorist groups including one aligned with Daesh have stumbled upon several abandoned houses with high-powered firearms and explosives in the southern Maguindanao del Norte province.
Maj. Gen. Alex Rillera, the Army’s 6th Infantry Division commander, in a statement, said members of the Marine Battalion Landing Team-5 (MBLT-5) discovered five abandoned houses with firearms Sunday at Barangay Nabalawag in Barira municipality.
Rillera said the Marines were scouring the area for possible enemy presence when they chanced upon the cache of firearms.
“Recovered were six rocket-propelled grenade launchers, 19 81mm mortar ammunition, two mortar baseplates, .50-caliber machine gun ammunition, rifle grenades, M203 grenade projectiles ammunition, and a rocket-propelled grenade, among others,” said Rillera, who is also the chief of Joint Task Force Central.
The troops also found a printed tarpaulin with the markings "Bangsamoro Government Headquarters, BRD, GHQ."
Rillera said the operating troops immediately secured the area and coordinated with the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team of the 1st Marine Brigade (1MBde) for the recovery of the explosives and ammunition.
The EOD team immediately disposed of the explosives and brought the other war materiel to the 1MBde headquarters in Barira town for documentation and safekeeping.
On Feb. 4, a Marine sergeant was killed and three of his companions were injured in an ambush by remnants of the Daesh-aligned Maute Group in the neighbouring Lanao del Sur province.
The Marines were conducting intelligence operations and were heading for home base when they were waylaid by about 10 gunmen in Cabasaran village, Marogong municipality.
The Marogong police said the suspects belonged to the Maute Group under Faharudin Hadjisatar alias Abu Zacharia, who is also the emir of Daesh in Southeast Asia.
My special report for The Diplomat last year detailed Abu Zacharia’s background and radicalisation at the hands of an Indonesian extremist.