Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat military operations kill 3

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Sep 26, 2023): Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat military operations kill 3 (By: Edwin Fernandez)

FOILED GUNRUNNING. Police in Lambayong, Sultan Kudarat killed two gunrunners when they resisted arrest after a botched gun deal on Sunday, Sept. 24. Two sniper rifles and a Yamaha NMax motorbike were recovered from the slain suspects. | PHOTOS: Lambayong PNP

TACURONG CITY Sultan Kudarat – Three armed men were killed Sunday during separate law enforcement operations by police and military forces in Maguindanao del Sur and Sultan Kudarat provinces, authorities said.

Two men from Maguindanao del Sur suspected of involvement in gunrunning activities were killed when they resisted arrest after an entrapment operation in Lambayong town, Sultan Kudarat, said Major Jethro Doligas, Lambayong police chief.

Doligas said the two gunrunners opened fire on a man they were negotiating with about 1 p.m. for the sale of two homemade sniper rifles at the national highway in Barangay Didtaras.

Doligas identified the fatalities as Abdulazis Bukakong, a suspected member of the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters residing in Barangay Kulambog, and Alimudin Tayan, an alleged member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front residing in Barangay Darumpua, both in Sultan sa Barongis town in Maguindanao del Sur.

Doligas said the duo agreed to sell two sniper rifles to a buyer who was an undercover police officer.

After sensing that they were dealing with a law enforcer, they opened fire on the buyer, but both were subdued by responding police officers waiting from a distance while the transaction was in progress.

Inside two sacks, the police found one cal. 50 sniper rifle and another, a cal. 7.56 sniper rifle with ammunition. Police also recovered the suspects’ Yamaha NMax motorbike.

In Ampatuan town, also in Maguindanao del Sur, military forces killed a suspected member of the Dawlah Islamiya terrorist group during a  military operation.

Brigadier General Oriel Pangcog, commander of the Army’s 601st Infantry Brigade, identified the suspect as Merlo Mling, who was killed in a brief clash Sunday with soldiers from the 40th Infantry Battalion.

Pangcog said the clash began when Mling and his companions fired at soldiers heading toward the outskirts of Ampatuan to check on reports about the presence of gunmen in the area.

His companions escaped during the encounter, but the Army believed that some of them were injured.

The soldiers found near Mling’s cadaver an M14 assault rifle, an M79 grenade launcher and a caliber .45 pistol.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1836748/maguindanao-sultan-kudarat-military-operations-kill-3