Military personnel stand guard at the entrance of a gymnasium while police investigators look for evidence after a bomb attack at Mindanao State University in Marawi on December 3, 2023. Merlyn Manos, AFP/file

MANILA — A suspect in the bombing of the Mindanao State University gymnasium in Marawi City last December has been killed in a military operation in Lanao del Sur, the Armed Forces of the Philippines said on Monday.

In a statement, the AFP identified Khadafi Mimbesa alias “Engineer” as the amir or leader of the Dawlah Islamiyah – Maute Group and the mastermind of the deadly bombing at the MSU.

The AFP said the Army's 103rd Infantry Brigade neutralized "local terrorists and armed members of the Dawlah Islamiyah in Lanao del Sur on January 25-26, 2024, who were identified as perpetrators of the fatal bombing at the Mindanao State University on December 3, 2023."

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The military said initial information that Mimbesa had been killed were corroborated by information from a "high-value individual in the DI-Maute Group" who surrendered to the 2nd Mechanized Brigade on February 11.

Troops recovered 9 high-powered guns, a bandolier, 4 Baofeng radios and a smartphone in the military operation.

On December 3, four people were killed while 50 others were injured after the blast occurred at the MSU gymnasium.

In an interview with ABS-CBN News in December, lawyer Shidik Abantas, MSU/BOR secretary, confirmed that Mimbesa was a former student of the university.

Abantas said Mimbesa enrolled in the course Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Engineering in 1993, but stopped in 1998. He went back to the MSU in 2007, but still did not finish his course.

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 Meanwhile, Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Romeo Brawner Jr. lauded the troops in successfully pursuing the suspects in the MSU bombing. He also called on remnants of the group to surrender.

 “Our troops will be relentless in the pursuit of those who will seek to disturb the peace. Take this as an invitation and a call to surrender now, and avoid the same fate as your dead comrades,” Gen. Brawner said.