AN ABU Sayyaf bandit and leader of a kidnap-for-ransom-group (KFRG) was killed as the government continued Monday, October 9, its offensive against the bandits.
Brigadier General Custodio Parcon Jr., Joint Task Force Tawi-Tawi commander, identified the fatality as Guro Idzri, alias Commander Idris, a member of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) and a kidnap-for-ransom-group cell leader in the province of Tawi-Tawi.
Parcon said Idzri was killed when he resisted troops in a law enforcement operation at 7:10 a.m. Sunday at Sitio Suwang Kagang in the village of Pasiagan, Bongao municipality.
“When troops are about to serve the warrant of arrest, Idzri fired at them using his caliber .45 pistol prompting our troops to shoot back,” Parcon said.
Parcon said Idzri failed to reach the Datu Halun Sakilan Memorial Hospital alive.
He said the troops recovered from Idzri’s possession a caliber .45 pistol with ammunition. The firearm was turned over to the police.
He said they received report that Idzri was the emerging new leader of the ASG-KFRG cell in the province of Tawi-Tawi.
He was also monitored looking for a possible victim to be kidnapped at the construction site of a Diesel power plant in the village of Pahut, Bongao, Tawi-Tawi.
Idzri was a follower of slain Sulu-based Abu Sayyaf spokesperson Muamar Askali, alias Abu Rami, and was believed to be involved in the November 5, 2016 kidnapping of German Jurgen Kantner.
Troops killed Askali in a clash on April 11 in Bohol, while the ASG beheaded Kantner in February this year. (SunStar Philippines)