COTABATO CITY — Authorities are bracing for a possible retaliation by the Dawlah Islamiya terror group that lost two men in a clash with members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Maguindanao del Sur on Monday.

The 45-minute gunfight in Barangay Mother Tuayan in Datu Hoffer, Maguindanao del Sur erupted when Dawlah Islamiya terrorists intruded into an area where MILF members reside to collect money and food from farmers.

Timuay Anton Dian, Indigenous People’s Mandatory representative to the municipal council of Datu Hoffer, and Bangsamoro Parliament Member Froilyn Mendoza told reporters Tuesday around 40 Teduray families in houses around the scene of the encounter have relocated to safer areas.

“We are calling on government relief agencies to extend to them relief support,” Mendoza, who is an ethnic Teduray, said.

Col. Roel Rullan Sermese, director of the Maguindanao del Sur police, and Army Brig. Gen. Oriel Libres Pangcog of the 601st Infantry Brigade had confirmed the incident that resulted in the death of two Dawlah Islamiya members and assured the public of their intervention to prevent a repeat of the incident.

Officials of the municipal peace and order councils in Datu Hoffer and nearby Datu Unsay and Shariff Aguak towns told reporters Tuesday the Dawlah Islamiya members killed in the clash were cousins Muntas Samsudin Ansao and Salik Abdullah Mantato.

Moro datus and other sources in the community claimed that three other Dawlah Islamiya members were wounded.

They reported to the Army’s 6th Infantry Division in Camp Siongco in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte that the Dawlah Islamiya terrorists involved in the clash were allegedly led by one Adbdulnasser Sangid Guinaid and a certain “Odic.” — John Felix M. Unson

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