47 arrested, 61 combat weapons seized in Maguindanao Army-police ops

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Soldiers and policemen detained 47 gunmen, some of them identified with local terror groups, and confiscated 61 military-type firearms in a joint law-enforcement operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao del Sur on Friday, November 29.

Major Gen. Antonio Nafarrete, commander of the 6th Infantry Division and acting Western Mindanao Command chief, told reporters on Saturday, November 30, that the operation was meant to neutralize two feuding Moro groups, one led by Badrudin Inda and the other by Zainudin Kiaro, that figured in a series of gunfights in recent months in two areas in Mamasapano that displaced no fewer than 3,000 villagers.

The two groups are squabbling for territories in Mamasapano's adjoining Tukanalipao and Pimbalakan areas and are locked in deep-seated political conflict that residents fear would escalate with the approach of the 2025 local elections.   

Soldiers under the 601st Infantry Brigade under 6th ID, backed by personnel of units under the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, apprehended 47 gunmen in Friday's operation that also resulted in the confiscation from them of 61 combat weapons.

The cache consists of M16 and M14 assault rifles, an M60 machinegun, M79 grenade and B40 rocket launchers, bolt-action Barrett sniper rifles and thousands of rounds of ammunition of various calibers.

Inda and Kiaro have both rejected mediation efforts early on by local executives, Islamic religious leaders and officials of the 601st Infantry Brigade and the Maguindanao del Sur Provincial Police, according to barangay officials in Mamasapano.

Nafarrete and PRO-BAR's director, Police Brig. Gen. Romeo Macapaz, separately told reporters that they shall cooperate in filing criminal cases against the 47 gunmen apprehended in Mamasapano on Friday.