BY JOSEPH JUBELAG
TACURONG CITY, SULTAN KUDARAT – A suspected member of Dawlah Islamiyah terror group who was involved in the bombing of a Catholic cathedral in 2019 was slain in a shootout with security forces here last Thursday.
Colonel Roy Galido, 601st Brigade commander, said the suspect, Abdul Rashid Lamalan, shot it out with police operatives who were manning a checkpoint on national highway in Barangay ECJ Montilla, this city.
He said security forces tried to flag down the suspect aboard a motorcycle upon receipt of intelligence report that the suspect was on his way to the city from Mamasapano, Maguindanao.
Authorities said the suspect evaded the checkpoint and shot it out with policemen manning the checkpoint.
The suspect reportedly engaged the security forces in a shootout after a brief chase.
Police recovered a .45-caliber pistol, a fragmentation grenade and components for improvised explosive devices.
Authorities tagged Lamalan as a terrorist bomber who figured in the twin bomb attacks on Catholic cathedral in Jolo in January 2019 that killed 28 people and injured more than 100 others.
He was also involved in the 2017 Marawi siege but was also able to sneak out from Lanao del Sur and sought refuge in Patikul, Sulu. (Joseph Jubelag)
