Air strike launched vs. DI extremists in Maguindanao Sur

From the Philippine News Agency (May 2, 2023): Air strike launched vs. DI extremists in Maguindanao Sur (By Edwin Fernandez)

Google map of Datu Piang, Maguindanao.

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao del Norte – Backed by artillery fire, military helicopter gunships pounded a suspected Dawlah Islamiya (DI) terrorist group’s lair in the marshland of Maguindanao del Sur early Tuesday.

“We are running after the terrorists behind the (April 17) bus bombing in Isulan,” Brig. Gen. Oriel Pangcog, commander of the Army’s 601st Infantry Brigade, said in a radio interview here.

Shortly after the strikes, he said ground troops were dispatched to scour the surroundings of Barangay Magaslong, Datu Piang, Maguindanao del Sur.

“We are uncertain whether there were casualties; our troops are still there,” Pagcog said.

Two attack helicopters fired rockets toward a group of houses in the middle of the marshland in Magaslong village around 3 a.m. Military intelligence reports indicated that the DI Hassan Group has earlier been monitored to be consolidating its forces in the area.

“There is no letup in our operation against those behind the bombing; they have to pay for it,” Pangcog said.

He said the target area is the launching pad of terrorists in carrying out bombing sorties against military forces and soft targets such as bus passengers, public terminals and public markets in Central Mindanao.

Lt. Col. Dennis Almorato, the Army’s 6th Infantry Division spokesperson, said the target of the operation is far from civilian communities.

Last week, the Sultan Kudarat provincial police office filed charges against nine members of the DI-allied Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters for carrying out the April 17 bombing against a double-decker bus unit of the Husky Tours Company in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat.

At least six bus passengers were wounded in the incident.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1200547