8 terror group bombers surrender to Army in Maguindanao del Sur

Eight followers of a terror group leader, killed last month in a shootout with policemen and soldiers, surrendered to an Army unit in Maguindanao del Sur on Thursday, July 30. All of them are experts in fabricating home-made bombs and have pledged to reform for good. The eight men were henchmen of Esmael Abubakar, the top leader of the now defunct Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), also known as "Bongos" in Central Mindanao. Abubakar was killed on July 5 in a brief clash he provoked with a team of policemen and soldiers who were out to serve him multiple warrants of arrest at his hideout in Barangay Calsada, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao del Norte. Major Gen. Jose Vladimir Cagara, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, told reporters on Saturday that the eight terrorists agreed to avail of the 6th ID’s regional reconciliation program for violent religious extremists through the joint intercession of the commanding officer of the 90th Infantry Battalion, Lt. Col. Loqui Marco, the commander of the 601st Infantry Brigade, and mayors in different towns in Maguindanao del Sur. Before pledging allegiance to the government on Thursday in Barangay Kabengi, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Maguindanao del Sur, in the presence of local executives and Catu, the eight BIFF members first turned in their combat weapons, including 40-millimeter grenade and B40 rocket launchers, and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to officials of the 90th IB. Local executives and traditional Moro datus in the towns of Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Shariff Aguak, Datu Unsay, and Datu Salibo in Maguindanao del Sur have separately confirmed to reporters that all of the eight BIFF members are well-versed in assembling powerful IEDs that can be detonated from a distance using mobile phones. Two of the eight terrorists, Hamodi Salik Anding and Monib Nasser Gundam, admitted their involvement in the BIFF's collection of "protection money" from Muslim and Christian merchants on a periodic basis, threatening to bomb their establishments if they refused to provide cash, as ordered by their leaders, who had surrendered ahead of them in recent months. Cagara said the social services and public order and safety ministries of the Bangsamoro regional government and mayors present at Thursday's surrender ceremony had provided the eight men with essential relief supplies and cash which they need in their return to their hometowns to get reunited with their families.