COTABATO CITY — Five members of the Dawlah Islamiya were killed in a gunfight with policemen and soldiers in Barangay Bangco in Sultan Naga Dimaporo, Lanao del Norte on Wednesday.

Senior officers in the Lanao del Norte Provincial Police Office and the commander of the military’s Western Mindanao Command, Army Lt. Gen. William N. Gonzales, on Wednesday confirmed the bloody incident, which left five Dawlah Islamiya terrorists dead, among them the long wanted Uya S. Duma.

Combined agents of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-10 and soldiers from units under the 1st Infantry Division went to serve Mr. Duma warrants of arrest in a secluded area in Barangay Bangco, but he and his companions resisted, provoking a deadly gunfight.

Mr. Duma and his four followers died instantly from multiple bullet wounds sustained in the encounter.

Mr. Duma is wanted for multiple murder, multiple frustrated murder, arson, kidnapping and large-scale drug trafficking cases that are pending in courts in different provinces in region 10.

Army Major Gen. Gabriel C. Viray III, commander of the 1st ID, and police officers in the province had separately announced that a Dawlah Islamiya member was wounded in the clash while another was arrested after he ran out of ammunition and tried to run away but was eventually cornered and detained by pursuing policemen and soldiers.

Officers in the Sultan Naga Dimaporo Municipal Police Station said it was Maranao barangay officials and religious leaders who led policemen and soldiers to the exact location of Duma in Barangay Bangco.

The joint Army-police team also seized three M16 assault rifles, three M1 Garand rifles, two .45 caliber pistols and fragmentation grenades scattered in the scene of the encounter. — John Felix M. Unson

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