KILLED IN SHOOTOUT. Suspected armed group leader Ganim Muksin lay dead in his house following a shootout with police and military personnel in Barangay Maganda, Lamitan City, Basilan, on Thursday night (April 20, 2023). Found at the house of the suspect were bomb-making materials and a .45-caliber pistol. (Photo courtesy of Lamitan City Police Office)
ZAMBOANGA CITY – A suspected private armed group leader was killed as troops seized bomb-making components in Lamitan City, Basilan province, a top police official said Friday.
Lt. Col. Arlan Delumpines, Lamitan police chief, said Ganim Muksin opened fire while a team of police and military personnel were serving the warrant against him in Barangay Maganda around 6:20 p.m. Thursday.
Delumpines said Muksin was killed in the ensuing shootout.
Muksin, he said, had no ties with the Abu Sayyaf Group, although he maintained several armed followers.
The warrant servers were from the Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit, 1st Provincial Mobile Force Company, and the Army’s 18th Infantry Battalion troopers.
Bomb-making components seized from Muksin's house included four improvised electric blasting caps, ammonium nitrate fuel oil, black power, electric switches, and five big polyvinyl chloride pipes packed with three and six-inch nails. A .435-caliber pistol was also recovered. (PNA)
