An Army utility truck hit by an IED believed set up by the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters. John Unson, file
NORTH COTABATO, Philippines — A joint Army-police team killed a wanted bomber of the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters in a brief encounter in Aleosan, North Cotabato on Friday.
Capt. Arvin Encinas, public affairs officer of the Army's 6th Infantry Division, said Sunday that personnel of the Aleosan municipal police and the 34th Infantry Battalion first tried to peacefully arrest Budz Basilan, but killed him instead when he resisted.
Basilan, a senior commander in the BIFF, which uses the flag of the Islamic State, was trained by Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, in fabrication of powerful improvised explosive devices. Marwan was killed in a police Special Action Force operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao in January 2015.
Basilan was implicated in more than a dozen roadside bombings in central Mindanao in recent months.
The team dispatched to arrest him in Barangay Puypuyan in Aleosan were about to surround his house when he opened fire with a rifle, provoking a gunfight.
Basilan, who sustained gunshot wounds in different parts of his body, died on the spot.
He was one of more than 200 local Islamic militants listed in the Martial Law arrest directive issued last year by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.
Encinas said the commander of 6th ID, Major Gen. Arnel Dela Vega, is thankful to local officials and barangay leaders in Aleosan for helping locate Basilan.
Municipal peace and order councils in Maguindanao and North Cotabato provinces had earlier confirmed that units of 6th ID killed 68 BIFF bandits in tactical operations in the past four months.
The BIFF, which splintered from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in 2010, is not covered by the interim ceasefire pact between the government and the MILF.
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