GOVERNMENT troops have recently rescued a child combatant recruited by the Daesh-inspired Dawlah Islamiya operating in the hinterlands of Lanao del Sur, officials said.
The Army’s 103rd Infantry Brigade said in a statement the child combatant, alias Jamal, 17, was rescued by the troops of the 55th Infantry Battalion in Madalum, Lanao del Sur.
The 103rd Infantry Brigade said Jamal was then fed and sheltered and later taken to the Balindong District Hospital for a medical check-up.
After the check-up, Jamal was placed under the care of the Madalum Municipal Government through Vice Mayor Sultan Isman Sarangani, Sr., who is also the representative of the Madalum Inter-Agency Task Force in Ending Local Armed Conflict.
“The rescue of alias Jamal is a welcome development for peace and order situation in the province. He is still young. I hope alias Jamal will not waste this second chance given to him to follow the right path,” the 103rd Infantry Brigade quoted Sarangani as saying.
The brigade said that Jamal revealed he was recruited by the Dawlah Islamiya a few days before the start of the Holy Month of Ramadan in March this year.
During his stay with the group, he together with other newly recruited child combatants were regularly taught about radical teachings to Islam and were also taught to conduct atrocities such as making bombs. (SunStar Zamboanga)