Killed were Tatah Abdul and Sultan Maliga, who had been the subject of a police and military manhunt for some time.
Sultan Kudarat police director Superintendent Abubakar Mangelen told reporters the two slain men had been implicated in various crimes, including car theft and armed robbery.
Abdul and Maliga also handled the Pentagon gang’s extortion activities in Sultan Kudarat, he added.
Mangelen said police were shadowing several Pentagon members led by Abdul and Maliga when they opened fire at the plainclothesmen, leading to a shootout.
The other gangmen fled after policemen shot and killed their two leaders, he added.
Mangelen police are scouring Tacurong and Sultan Kudarat for the whereabouts of the other suspects who have remained at large.
Police and military intelligence sources told The STAR Abdul and Maliga planted the two bombs that wounded two people in the city’s commercial center last week.
The homemade bombs were placed in front of a department store and at the parking lot of a bank, he added.
Mangelen said police are investigating whether Abdul and Maliga had supplied the explosives used to blast cells in the Sultan Kudarat provincial jail last week to allow two detained Pentagon members to escape.
Before escaping, the gangmen exploded grenades to sow panic and confusion among jail guards and other inmates, he added. – John Unson