BASILAN - A suspected bandit was killed by joint police and military troops in Barangay Tapiantana, Tabuan-Lasa town in Basilan on Wednesday dawn, a police official said.

According to Senior Superintendent Nickson Muksan, provincial director of the Basilan police, government forces recovered the body of a suspected bandit identified as Billamin Hassan, who had an arrest warrant for arson.

Hassan, however, was not the main target of the law enforcement operation. Muksan said a certain Mobin Kulin, also known as Mulawi, was the primary target of the operation.

Mulawi was reportedly connected with the Abu Sayyaf operating in Basilan and has a standing arrest warrant for a case of kidnapping and serious illegal detention, in relation to the Sipadan kidnapping in 2000.

Basilan Governor Jim Salimman, on the other hand, said he received reports from the military that there were other suspected bandits killed in the operation.

Their remains have yet to be recovered from the encounter site.

It was also unclear if Mulawi was among those who were supposedly killed.

The Western Mindanao Command has yet to release an official statement on the incident.

Meanwhile, Amira Lidasan, one of the officials of Suara Bangsamoro, was quick to dismiss the allegations of the authorities tagging Hassan as a bandit.

She said she personally knew Hassan as a human rights advocate working with them in Basilan.

Lidasan added Hassan was active in exposing human rights abuses in the war-stricken province and even organized a local human rights group he called Kapatot.

She said Hassan was a whistleblower during the 2004 local and national elections in Basilan, exposing alleged irregularities in the voting process and canvassing of votes.

He also worked in Bangsamoro Development Agency for the past few years.

Lidasan said Hassan's killing might also be politically motivated.

Hassan ran for mayor in Tabuan-Lasa town in 2004 but lost to his political rival.

His brother was killed in 2014 due to a family feud.

Lidasan is calling for an objective investigation over the death of Hassan. She also said she would seek the help of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to conduct an in-depth probe on the incident.