Soldier killed after manning quarantine checkpoint in Maguindanao

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines — Dawlah Islamiya bandits killed a soldier in an attack in Rajah Buayan town late Tuesday.

The fatality, Pfc. Jerome Tahad of the Army's 33rd Infantry Battalion, died on the spot from multiple bullet wounds.

He was returning to their command post in Barangay Zapakan in Rajah Buayan from a six-hour duty in a quarantine checkpoint nearby when Dawlah Islamiya gunmen shot him with assault rifles.

Tahad's companions returned fire, forcing his killers to scamper away.

Two members of the Army’s 57th IB, Corporals Jermie Ombiang and Vicente Gata, were also killed about two weeks ago by Dawlah Islamiya gunmen in a similar attack while enforcing COVID-19 quarantine regulations in an upland barangay in nearby Datu Hoffer, Maguindanao.

The Dawlah Islamiya, also known as the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, is using the flag of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria as revolutionary banner.

The Army’s 6th Infantry Division gave Ombiang and Gata military honors before sending their remains to their hometowns following a three-day wake at the division headquarters in Camp Siongco in Maguindanao.