COTABATO CITY – Police authorities have arrested in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao two suspected bandits involved in the January 25, 2015 hostilities in Mamasapano town that left 44 police commandos and several others dead.
Senior Supt. Agustin Tello, Maguindanao provincial police director, identified the suspects as Lakiman Dawaling and Mustapha Tatak, both alleged members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).
Tello said joint operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the provincial police office collared the two suspects on Friday morning in the town proper of Shariff Aguak.
Vigilant barangay leaders had tipped the police about the presence of Dawaling and Tatak, the police official said, acknowledging the assistance of soldiers from the Shariff Aguak-based Army’s mechanized brigade in the conduct of the operation.
Dawaling and Tatak were allegedly among several BIFF guerillas who attacked police Special Action Force troops retreating from Barangay Pidsandawan in Mamasapano after killing wanted Malaysian terrorist Zulkilfli bin Hir, also known as Marwan, before dawn on January 25, 2015.
The encounter, now known as the infamous “Mamasapano clash,” left 44 SAF members dead. (Ali G. Macabalang)