Alleged terrorist killed in encounter with military in Lanao del Sur

January 25, 2020

An alleged terrorist member was killed in an encounter with government troops in Lanao del Sur on Friday afternoon.

Capt. Clint Antipala, public affairs chief of the 1st Infantry Division, said the troops of the 82nd Infantry Battalion encountered remnants of the Maute terrorist group in the hinterland boundaries of the municipalities of Balindong and Piagapo, Lanao del Sur around 4:30 pm.

Antipala said Lt. Col. Rafman Altre,  82nd Infantry Battalion commander, identified the neutralized terrorist as a certain Jarir S Usman, 28, a resident of Brgy Raya Saduc, Marawi City, Lanao del Sur. 

"He was recognized thru his Identification Card (ID) which was recovered after the fifteen-minute firefight", Altre said.

Antipala said troops also recovered one M16 rifle, four improvised explosive devices, two kilograms of explosive components, a magazine of M16, a cellphone, a container of rice, personal belongings and subversive documents with high intelligence value.

"The cadaver was immediately turned over by the troops to the local officials of Brgy Gacap, Piagapo, Lanao del Sur for proper disposition," he said.

"No government forces was hurt, and possible number of enemies were wounded based on the traces of bloodstains in their withdrawal route," he added.

Antipala said government forces are still conducting pursuit operation to neutralize the remaining terrorist.

Antipala said Col. Jose Maria Cuerpo II, 103rd Infantry Brigade Commander who has operational jurisdiction over Lanao del Sur urged the people to cooperate and report to proper authorities if there are presence of armed groups in their communities.

“We remain relentless in our military operations and we won’t allow another Siege that displaced thousands of constituents in our area of operations, to happen”, Cuerpo said. Robina Asido/DMS