Another Khilafa extremist killed in shootout with police
Breaking News • 01:09 AM Sun Jan 8, 2017
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By:
John Unson
Image of jihadist in the Philippines uploaded in the internet.
SARANGANI --- Authorities gunned down on Saturday in Maasim town in Sarangani a foreigner identified with the slain leader of the Ansar Al-Khilafa Philippines whom policemen killed in an operation Thursday.
Supt. Romeo Galgo,Jr., spokesman of the Regional Police Office-12, said the slain militant, initially identified only Abu Naila, was neutralized by a team of soldiers and police agents when he resisted arrest during a raid in Barangay Daliao in Maasim.The operation that resulted in the death of Abu Naila was part of an effort to locate in seaside towns in Sarangani the followers of Mohammad Jaafar Maguid, founder of the outlawed jihadist group operating in the fashion of the Independent State of Iraq and Syria.Maguid, known to his contacts in the Middle East and Pakistan as Abu Shareefa Al-Filibini, was killed on Thursday in a shootout with personnel of PRO-12 and agents of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency at a beach resort in Kiamba town, also in Sarangani. Initial reports relayed to us by our operating personnel indicated that Abu Naila, a loyal follower of the slain leader of their group, was a foreigner. We’re still trying to establish his exact nationality, Galgo said.Abu Naila was a known henchman of Maguid, who established the Ansar Al-Khilafa group in Barangay Butril in Palimbang, Sultan Kudarat in 2013.
Maguid and his followers built a camp in Barangay Butril with an ISIS flag in the center.He and his men were driven away from Barangay Butril in late 2015 by combined personnel of the Regional Police Office-12 and units of the 1st Marine Brigade in an operation where seven militants perished, among them a nephew of a former congressional representative in Maguindanao province.Police agents who cornered Maguid on Thursday attempted to subdue him while in Barangay Kitagas in Kiamba but he resisted and pulled out a gun, prompting them to immediately neutralize him.Three of Maguid's companions immediately yielded to police when their leader was shot down.
The arrested militants -- Matahata Dialawe, Arboleda Shahak, and Morhaban Veloso -- are now detained in an undisclosed police camp.They are heavily guarded against any attempt by companions to spring them from detention.It was not known if the three arrested followers of Maguid led the police to the location of Abu Naila.