PNP-IG ops kill wanted ASG in Basilan
A PHILIPPINE National Police Intelligence Group (PNP-IG)-initiated anti-terror operation in Basilan province on Tuesday resulted in the neutralization of a wanted member of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG)-turned former local barangay captain, a report to PNP chief, General Benjamin C. Acorda Jr. said.
Slain during the counter-terror operation launched by the PNP-IG upon the approval of the PNP Directorate for Intelligence headed by Brigadier Gen. Joe Melencio C. Nartatez Jr. in Sitio Kalang in Barangay Amaloy in Unkaya Pukan municipality around 10 p.m. Tuesday was Nurudin Mudallam alias “Commander Not.”
The operation was started by the Regional Intelligence Unit 9 with the help of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), the PNP Special Action Force (PNP-SAF), Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region Police Regional Office.
The PNP-IG said that officers were approaching the house of the target when he opened fire at them, prompting the lawmen to retaliate, killing the latter on the spot.
Recovered from the possession of the slain suspect was one caliber 5.56 Colt M-16 automatic rifle with three magazines containing 80 pieces of live ammunition.
Muddalan was described as a remnant of an ASG unit led by Furuji Indaman, who formed his own terror group while claiming to be a member of both the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).
A record check showed that the suspect used to be the chairman of Bgy. Silangkum in Tipo-Tipo, Basilan, who became wanted for his involvement in a number of atrocities against security troops and civilians in the island province.
They include an ambush on members of the Army’s 32nd Infantry Battalion (IB) in Sitio Tampat in Bgy. Kaili in Albarka town on June 25, 2022; the harassment of a Marine patrol base in Bgy. Tipo-Tipo proper in 2008; the attack on troops in Sitio Crossing Si Paru in Bgys Kali and Baguindan in Tipo-Tipo municipality, which led to the killing of 15 government troops and the wounding of 13 others in 2007.
The PNP-CIDG Region 9 Field Unit took custody of the seized pieces of evidence while the body of the slain suspect was brought to the Zamboanga Medical Center in Zamboanga City.
