By Edwin Fernandez
COTABATO CITY – Five fighters of the extremist Dawlah Islamiya (DI) group surrendered to military authorities in Maguindanao del Sur, an Army official said Wednesday.
In a statement, Brig. Gen. Edgar Catu, commander of the Army’s 601st Brigade (601Bde), said the group surrendered at the brigade’s headquarters in Barangay Kamasi, Ampatuan town on Tuesday afternoon
Lt. Col. Loqui Marco, commander of the Army’s 90th Infantry Battalion (90IB), presented the surrenderers to Catu during the ceremony. They are Humidi Salipudin, Jonathan Kamsa, Durham Angas, Nurhan Sabptulah, and Salahuddin Saptula, all members of the DI-Hassan Group operating in the province.
“The group also yielded five high-powered firearms,” Catu said.
Upon their surrender, the provincial government provided them with cash, rice assistance, and agricultural inputs for farming.
Catu commended the provincial government, the BARMM’s Ministry of Public Order and Safety, the Bangsamoro agriculture office, and other stakeholders for supporting the military’s disarmament program.
“I also salute the 90IB for the successful implementation of the Mobile Community Support Sustainment Program that led to the extremists’ surrender,” he said.
Since January, about 100 armed rebels have surrendered to the 90IB and other field units of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division (6ID) in Central Mindanao. The 6ID’s area of responsibility includes Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Sultan Kudarat, South Cotabato, and parts of Sarangani and North Cotabato. (PNA)
