2 soldiers killed in 2-day Army-Dawlah clashes in Maguindanao del Sur

January 29, 2026 | 7:15pm

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — The soldier in a team who went missing during gunfights on Tuesday, January 27, with Dawlah Islamiya terrorists in Barangay Tuayan Mother in Datu Hoffer, Maguindanao del Sur was found lifeless in a secluded spot in the area, the second Army casualty in the hostilities.

It was Moro villagers helping the Army’s 601st Infantry Brigade monitor the movements in Datu Hoffer of remnants of the Dawlah Islamiya and personnel of the 90th Infantry Battalion who spotted on Wednesday afternoon Cpl. Junie Mangalay Jr., lying on a grassy area west of Barangay Tuayan Mother, had his rifle and other personal belongings missing.

A companion of Mangalay, Cpl. Ryan Bagual, also a member of the 90th IB, was the first to fall in their initial encounter with remaining members of the long-defunct Dawlah Islamiya in Barangay Tuayan Mother on Tuesday morning.

Officials of the 90th IB and the commander of the 6th Infantry Division, Major Gen. Jose Vladimir Cagara, separately told reporters on Thursday that they are trying to overcome their sadness over the demise of the two soldiers with the thought of their “supreme sacrifice” in line of duty.

“They are both heroes for having fulfilled their pledge to perform their duties as soldiers even at the cost of their lives.” Cagara said.

Municipal officials overtly supporting the 6^th ID’s anti-terror operation in Datu Hoffer told reporters on Thursday that Mangalay, carrying a large binocular, was crawling towards the location of the Dawlah Islamiya terrorists to observe them while exchanging shots with his companions and lost contact with them when he retreated to a nearby hinterland when he saw gunmen approaching him from two directions.

The two-day skirmishes in Barangay Tuayan Mother erupted when members of the terror group attacked the personnel of the 90th IB dispatched to check on reports by villagers about the presence in the area of terrorists, asking for money and rice from them at gunpoint.

Local executives, among them members of different multi-sector municipal peace and order councils, warned last week of a plot by the few remaining members of the now nonfunctional Dawlah Islamiya to stir an impression that they are still capable of perpetrating terror attacks despite the surrender, in the past four years, of 839 companions to the 6^th ID and the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region.

Officials of the 6th ID said they shall facilitate the immediate turnover of the remains of Mangalay to his family in Tupi, South Cotabato.

Bagual, a Muslim, was immediately buried by his relatives in Barangay Poblacion in President Quirino in Sultan Kudarat, not too distant from Maguindanao del Sur, in keeping with an Islamic tradition of burying the dead within 24 hours after death.