7 more Dawlah terrorists surrender in Maguindanao del Norte

COTABATO CITY — Seven more members of the Dawlah Islamiya terror group surrendered in the hinterland Upi town in Maguindanao del Norte on Tuesday.

Major Gen. Donald M. Gumiran, commander of the Army’s 6^th Infantry Division, announced on Wednesday that the seven local terrorists agreed to come out and renounce their membership with the Dawlah Islamiya through the backchannel efforts of local executives and officials of the 57^th Infantry Battalion and the 603^rd Infantry Brigade.

The seven terrorists first turned in improvised explosive devices and combat weapons, including two 60-millimeter mortars, to Lt. Col. Aeron T. Gumabao, commanding officer of the 57^th IB.

They then pledged allegiance to the government in the presence of Brig. Gen. Michael A. Santos, commander of the 603^rd Infantry Brigade, Upi Mayor Rona P. Flores, Maguindanao del Norte Gov. Sharifudin Tucao P. Mastura, and other representatives from the Bangsamoro government.

“We are grateful to all who cooperated in convincing them to return to the fold of law and thrive in peace in their barangays,” Mr. Gumiran said.

The allies Dawlah Islamiya and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters are tagged in all deadly bombings in Central Mindanao since 2014.

More than 800 members of both groups had availed of 6^th ID’s regional reconciliation program for violent religious extremists in the past three years, all of them reintegrated into the local communities with the help of local government units and agencies in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. — John Felix M. Unson