4 outlaws linked to Dawlah Islamiya killed in clash with law-enforcers

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July 10, 2026 | 5:27pm

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Four from a criminal gang identified with the Dawlah Islamiya were killed in separate joint police-Army law-enforcement operations in Barangay Pantar in Banisilan, Cotabato, within just two days.

Officials of the Cotabato Provincial Police Office and the Army’s 601st Infantry Brigade separately told reporters on Friday that the first to perish in the two encounters, at noon Wednesday, July 8, in Sitio Kinamuran in Barangay Pantar were three followers of the long-wanted criminal gang leader Medalya Sultan Tidong.

Tidong, whom local executives said had provided sanctuary to a few remnants of the now defunct Dawlah Islamiya terror group, is wanted for high-profile cases, including multiple murder, multiple frustrated, extortion, destructive arson and trafficking marijuana and shabu.

Local executives and Brig. Ricky Bunayog, commander of the Army’s 601st Infantry Brigade, separately said on Friday that a team of policemen from different units of the Police Regional Office 12, backed by Army combatants, were to serve the Tidong and his followers multiple warrants of arrest from different courts but they resisted and opened fire, provoking a gunfight.

Three of Tidong’s followers were killed in the ensuing clash, according to barangay officials in Pantar who led policemen and soldiers to their hideout.

Tidong and six of his remaining companions managed to escape towards a nearby hinterland when they sensed that soldiers and policemen, among them operatives from the Banisilan Municipal Police Station and different units of the Police Regional Office 12, were about to encircle their location.

Another henchman of Tidong, Wawie Tidong, related to him by blood, was shot dead by soldiers and policemen in a brief clash in Sitio Kalantay in Barangay Pantar on Thursday morning, according officials of the Cotabato provincial police and traditional Moro leaders in Banisilan.

Officials of PRO 12 had told reporters that policemen had asked him to turn himself in peacefully but he resisted and shot them with his M16 rifle, forcing them to return fire, killing him immediately. 

Police Brig. Gen. Alan Manibog, director of PRO 12, said he is thankful to community leaders and local executives in Banisilan and nearby towns in Cotabato for helping policemen and soldiers locate the group in Barangay Pantar.

Villagers had confirmed to reporters that Tidong and his followers forcibly collected rice and money from them on a periodic basis.