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John Unson - Philstar.com
January 28, 2026 | 6:39pm
The residents of Datu Hoffer, Maguindanao del Sur affected by the series of clashes in the municipality between soldiers and local terrorists are now in evacuation sites.
Photo courtesy of Philstar.com / John Unson
COTABATO CITY — A soldier from the Army’s 90th Infantry Battalion was killed, and another was wounded during clashes with remnants of the now-defunct Dawlah Islamiya in Datu Hoffer, Maguindanao del Sur, on Tuesday, January 27.
More than a hundred poor families in Barangay Tuayan, Mother of Datu Hoffer, where soldiers and remaining members of the Dawlah Islamiya engaged in gunfights, have relocated to safer areas for fear of being caught in the crossfire.
Officials of the Army’s 601st Infantry Brigade and the 6th Infantry Division confirmed on Wednesday morning that a soldier was killed and another wounded in the incident. The latter is now confined to a hospital in Camp Siongco in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte, where the 6th ID headquarters is located.
Local executives, including members of various multi-sector municipal peace and order councils, warned last week of a plot by the few remaining members of the now-defunct Dawlah Islamiya to create the impression that they are still capable of carrying out terror attacks, despite the surrender over the past four years of 839 of their companions to the 6th ID and the Police Regional Office–Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PRO-BAR).
Citing reports from local executives and evacuees, officials of the 6th ID and PRO-BAR told reporters that hostilities in Barangay Tuayan Mother erupted when gunmen attacked a team of soldiers dispatched to investigate villagers’ reports of terrorist presence in the area. The gunmen were forcibly collecting food and money from residents.
Traditional Moro community leaders and evacuees from Barangay Tuayan told Army officials and reporters on Wednesday that four terrorists, identified as Samsudin, Mutalib, Hader, and Badruddin, were wounded in the ensuing gunfights. They were seen being carried away by companions as they fled toward the hinterlands near South Upi in Maguindanao del Sur.
The local government unit of Datu Hoffer, together with the provincial office in Maguindanao del Sur of the Ministry of Social Services and Development–Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, is attending to the needs of Barangay Tuayan Mother residents who are now at evacuation sites in the center of Datu Hoffer.
