Dawlah Islamiya’s `emir’ killed in Marawi clash
Mindanao Armed Conflict • 12:45 PM Wed Jun 14, 2023
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By:
John M. Unson
Villagers reportedly led authorities to the hideout of Faharudin Pumbuaya Pangalian. (From Lanao del Sur Provincial Police Office)
MARAWI CITY --- A team of combined soldiers and policemen killed the “emir” of the Dawlah Islamiya in a 10-minute clash here before dawn Wednesday.
Brig. Gen. Allan C. Nobleza, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, said Wednesday a raiding team was to serve Faharudin Pumbuaya Pangalian different warrants of arrest but neutralized him instead when he resisted and provoked a gunfight.
Pangalian, more known as Abu Zacharia in the Dawlah Islamiya and touted as the group’s emir, meaning ruler in Arabic, is wanted for more than 20 high-profile criminal cases pending in different courts.
Nobleza said the operation meant to peacefully arrest Pangalian in the Sarimanok area here that turned haywire and resulted in his death involved different military and police units and intelligence agents of the Army-led anti-terror Task Force Marawi under the Western Mindanao Command.
Sources from the multi-sector Lanao del Sur Provincial Peace and Order Council told reporters it was Maranao villagers supportive of the peace and security programs of Gov. Mamintal A. Adiong, Jr. who reported the presence of Pangalian in Sarimanok area, enabling the police and military to locate him in the area.
Adiong, chairman of the Lanao del Sur PPOC, last week called on his Muslim and Christian constituents to help units of PRO-BAR and the 103rd Infantry Brigade covering Lanao del Sur clear all of the barangays in this city and the 39 towns in the province from Dawlah Islamiya presence.
“We are thankful to the vigilant Marawi City residents who led the joint Army and police raiding team to the hideout of Abu Zacharia," Lt. Gen. Roy M. Galido, WestMinCom commander, said.
Pangalian was the leader of all Dawlah Islamiya groups in Mindanao and has links with the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.
Both groups have a reputation for fomenting hatred for non-Muslims and are together tagged in all deadly bomb attacks in Mindanao since 2014.
Nobleza and Galido separately told reporters Pangalian was also recently proclaimed East Asian emir of the Dawlah Islamiya by leaders of different extremists groups in Mindanao and their supporters abroad.
“We are bracing for possible retaliations. We will never give his sympathizers a chance to do that,” Nobleza said.
Police forensic experts found grenades, improvised explosive devices and two M16 assault rifles in the hideout of Pangalian, where soldiers and policemen felled him with rifle shots for resisting arrest.