SULTAN MASTURA, Maguindanao del Norte — A localized Dawlah Islamiya sub-leader and three of his associates were neutralized during an armed confrontation with a combined police and military unit in this municipality on Friday afternoon, October 16.
Captain Steffi Salanguit, spokesperson for the Police Regional Office–Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PRO-BAR), named the central target of the operation as Yusa Ganoy, who also went by the aliases “Minimi,” “Commander Usa,” and “Yousa Ganoy.”
Ganoy held the designation of Priority Sanction Target No. 11 and stood as the fourth most wanted person on the provincial level in Maguindanao del Sur. He served as a sub-leader under the Dawlah Islamiya Hassan Group’s Alpha King faction, a terrorist cell tied to a series of bombings, execution-style killings, and arson operations across Maguindanao del Sur and adjacent Sultan Kudarat areas.
The security operation unfolded at approximately 3:30 p.m. within Sitio Masagana, Barangay Tapayan, carrying out the directives of Oplan Pagtugis and Oplan Paglalansag Omega.
Executing the mission was a multi-agency composite force spearheaded by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) Cotabato City Field Unit. The team received tactical backing from the CIDG Regional Special Operations Team, Regional Intelligence Unit-15, Mobile Detention Network, the 41st Special Action Company of the 4th Special Action Battalion, the 1st Intelligence Company, the 1st Infantry Battalion, the 2nd Marine Brigade, the National Intelligence Support Group–Eastern Mindanao, and local police from Sultan Mastura.
State forces moved in to serve several outstanding warrants of arrest issued against Ganoy by different courts. The legal charges against him spanned destructive arson, direct assault, multiple counts of frustrated murder, double murder, qualified direct assault featuring multiple attempted murder, and infractions of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.
According to Salanguit, Ganoy and his three yet-to-be-identified companions chose to fight back rather than surrender, opening fire on the closing lawmen and sparking a firefight that ended in the deaths of all four suspects.
Following the shootout, government troops scoured the scene and recovered an assault rifle, a trio of .45-caliber pistols, and a live improvised explosive device.
”This is a significant accomplishment in our campaign against lawlessness and terrorism. The dismantling of this cell ensures the safety of our communities from further atrocities,” Salanguit expressed.