8 gunmen suspected of having links to ISIS killed in Sultan Kudarat

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MANILA—A suspected Indonesian bomb expert and his seven Filipino conspirators were killed yesterday by government forces in the town of Palembang in Sultan Kudarat, following an hour of exchange of fire between the two groups.

Among the eight killed was Abdul Fatah who is suspected of training the group in making bombs.

“They are self-declared terrorists. They have long been operating but they were not able to get public attention because of their failure to launch attacks,” Western Mindanao Command Spokesperson Major Felimon Tan was quoted as saying in a Manila Bulletin report.

The group that was led by Ansar al Khalifa and Mohid Jaafar Maguid posed as having connections with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

“They pretend as a group connected to the ISIS. In fact, our troops were able to recover five ISIS flags in the area,” Tan said in the same report.

The encounter between the ‘terrorists’ emerged when gunmen fired patrolling Marines in Barangay Butril, Palembang town at around 6 p.m. last night. Eight cadavers, as well as ammunitions were recovered from the scene.

Since the encounter ensued near the area where the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters operated before, there are speculations that the government forces encountered BIFF fighters.

Tan noted that the military is not certain of the identities of the group that they have encountered. “What we are sure of is that it is a group claiming to be under ISIS but is not being recognized,” he added.