4 Dawlah members wounded, weapons seized in Maguindanao encounters

June 6, 2026 | 4:51pm

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Four remnants of the Dawlah Islamiya were wounded in gunfights with pursuing soldiers on Friday, June 5, in Maguindanao del Sur province that also resulted in the seizure of firearms and explosives they had left as they ran away.

Personnel of units under the Army’s 601st Infantry Brigade and the 64th Division Reconnaissance Company of the 6th Infantry Division first clashed with Dawlah Islamiya terrorists, led by Marhom Esmael, in Barangay Pimbalakan in Mamasapano, Maguindanao early Friday.

The 601st Infantry Brigade dispatched soldiers to Barangay Pimbalakan after local executives, Moro datus and Muslim religious leaders in Mamasapano reported the presence of Esmael’s group in the area, forcibly collecting money from villagers.

Esmael is wanted for 16 criminal cases, including multiple murder, multiple frustrated murder, arson, extortion and coddling of wanted shabu and marijuana traffickers that are pending in courts in Maguindanao del Sur, in Isulan in Sultan Kudarat province and in Cotabato City.

Local executives told reporters the encounter in Barangay Pimbalakan erupted when Esmael and his followers opened fire at the soldiers tasked to verify their reported presence in the area.

The commander of the 601^st Infantry Brigade, Brig. Gen. Edgar Catu, and his superior in the 6th ID, Major Gen. Jose Vladimir Cagara, separately told reporters on Saturday that Esmael and his companions immediately ran away when they sensed that soldiers were about to encircle their location in Barangay Pimbalakan.

Local executives had told reporters that villagers had seen Esmael and his companions carrying two wounded companions, whom they identified as Salik and Muktar, as they scampered away.=

Two hours later, Dawlah Islamiya terrorists attacked soldiers patrolling in a secluded area in Barangay Daladap in Mamasapano, sparking an encounter that caused panic among villagers.

Residents of Barangay Daladap, among them Muslim preachers, supporting the 6th ID’s anti-terror operations in Mamasapano, had reported to officials of the division’s public affairs office that two terrorists, Samer and Badrudin, were wounded in the incident.

Catu, Cagara and members of the Mamasapano Municipal Peace and Order Council had confirmed to reporters that soldiers found an M14 rifle, an M16 rifle, a 5.56 Remington R4 rifle, all stained with blood, and home-made explosives at the scene of Friday's skirmishes in Mamasapano’s neighboring Barangays Pimbalakan and Daladap.

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