COTABATO CITY — Personnel of an anti-terror Philippine Marine unit shot dead four members of the outlawed Dawlah Islamiya in an encounter in Barira, Maguindanao del Norte before dawn Monday.
The encounter in Sitio Palao in Barangay Barira in the upland Barira town erupted when Dawlah Islamiya gunmen opened fire on members of the Marine Battalion Landing Team-2, dispatched to check on reports by residents about their presence in the area.
Army Major Gen. Donald M. Gumiran, commander of the 6th Infantry Division told reporters on Monday afternoon that he is thankful to officials of the 1st Marine Brigade for acting promptly on reports by villagers about their sightings of Dawlah Islamiya members in their surroundings.
Community leaders had told reporters that the companions of the four Dawlah Islamiya members killed in the clash scampered away when they sensed that Marine and police reinforcements were closing in. They were seen carrying three wounded companions as they fled, according to traditional ethnic Iranun elders in Barira.
The Marines and barangay officials who responded to the incident found two assault rifles, ammunition and more than a dozen 40-millimeter grenade projectiles scattered at the scene of the encounter, left by the retreating Dawlah Islamiya gunmen. — John Felix M. Unson
