More cops deployed to Lanao Sur town threatened by ISIS

From the Philippine News Agency (May 29, 2023): More cops deployed to Lanao Sur town threatened by ISIS (By Edwin Fernandez)

MORE TROOPS. Brig. Gen. Allan Nobleza (2nd from right), police regional director for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, visits Marogong, Lanao del Sur on Monday (May 29, 2023) to meet with Vice Mayor Haroun Marohom (left) and ensure sufficient police forces and soldiers to secure the town from Dawlah Islamiya terrorists. Police will stay in the town to monitor the peace and order situation. (Photo courtesy of Police Regional Office-BARMM)

PARANG, Maguindanao Norte – More police forces have been deployed to Marogong town and nearby areas in Lanao del Sur to ensure the safety of civilians after the Daesh-linked gunmen threatened to launch a Marawi-like siege.

Brig. Gen. Allan Nobleza, police regional director for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), arrived in Marogong on Monday and assured local officials and civilians that the police will protect them.

A police mobile force company from Camp SK Pendatun, the regional headquarters of BARMM police based here, was dispatched to Marogong as early as Sunday morning.

“I came over to ensure and monitor the peace and security of the area and conducted a consultative meeting with local officials,” Nobleza said in a statement.

He assured Marogong Vice Mayor Haroun Marohom of police and military presence in his town.

Nobleza’s visit came after the local Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group led by Fajarudin Pumbaya Pangalian, the self-declared leader of Dawlah Islamiya (DI) militants in the country, threatened to launch terror attacks.

The group ordered the civilians to leave Marogong using a two-way radio communication set, forcing about 2,000 individuals to flee to nearby towns leaving a few men to take care of their valuables since Friday night.

In his threat on Saturday, Pagalian said the offensives will be carried out if the four ISIS members earlier nabbed by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and turned over to the military with their firearms are not freed.

No attack was launched so far but Nobleza said the police will stay in town whether the ISIS-linked militants will make true the threat or not.

“The national government, especially the Philippine National Police, is very much concerned about the safety of the people of Marogong considering the threat posed by the DI group in this municipality,” he said.

Nobleza said many civilians have returned home, but a few, especially women and children, prefer to stay with their relatives in neighboring towns of Binidayan, Tubaran, and Marawi City for the meantime.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1202457