8 die in anti-drug operation in southern Philippines

From Roy Ramos

ZAMBOANGA, the Philippines

Eight people, including a police officer, two army soldiers and a military guide, were killed Sunday in an anti-drug operation launched against a former Moro rebel commander in a remote southern Philippines village.

The state-run Philippines News Agency (PNA) quoted Army Commander Col. Noly Samarita as saying a gunbattle broke out when military and police forces attempted to serve warrants of arrest on Commander Mabrook in the town of Midsayap, North Cotabato province, around 4.30 a.m. Sunday (2030GMT Saturday).

Mabrook is a former commander of the Philippines one-time largest Moro rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Samarita said killed in the six-hour firefight were a North Cotabato police force officer, the two soldiers, the guide and four followers of Commander Mabrook, including his brother.

He added that, the government forces were approaching the remote village when they met by a hail of bullets, triggering the exchange of fire.

Capt. Joan Petinglay, spokesperson of the 6th Infantry Division, said in a statement that eight government troops suffered minor injuries and were treatment at the Camp Siongco hospital.

Petinglay said that Mabrook and his men were engaged in the illegal drug trade at the border of North Cotabato and Maguindanao provinces.

They were reported to have fled towards local marshland when MG-520 attack helicopters helped government forces with airstrikes.

Several packs of methamphetamine hydrochloride were seized from the village, Peralta said.

During his first State of the Nation address July 25, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said that the government would not stop until "the last drug lord, the last financier, and the last pusher had surrendered or [been] put behind bars or below the ground".

A “Kill List” published Aug. 12 by national newspaper the Inquirer states 601 drug-related deaths since Duterte was inaugurated June 30.