22 local terrorists dead in series of clashes

with troops in Lanao del Sur, says military

The military says 22 members of the local terrorist group have been killed since a series of clashes with government troops recently in the predominantly Muslim province in southern Philippines since May 26, 2015.

According to a military press statement on Saturday, "Since May 26, 2016, intense military operations are being conducted against the local terrorist group in Butig, Lanao del Sur responsible for the beheading of two civilians in the area."

Maj Filemon Tan Jr., spokesman of WesMincom, said the operations resulted in a series of clashes, killing 22 local terrorists (under the Maute group), the death also of two soldiers and wounding of nine other government troopers from the 5th Mechanized Battalion, 51st Infantry Battalion and Philippine Air Force.

Tan said government forces were still pursuing the armed group in the area.

The military blamed the Maute group as behind a series of kidnappings in Lanao province in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and was also said to be responsible for the beheading of two sawmill workers in Butig last month.

Just like the Abu Sayyaf militant group in Basilan, the Maute group had already pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria or Isis.

An armed conflict broke out between government troops and a group of Moro insurgent reportedly sympathizers of ISIS and Jemaah Islamiyah in Butig town in Lanao del Surn February 20, 2016, where three Philippine Army soldiers were killed in action, 11 wounded, and 20 terrorists killed in the early phase of battle.

The fighting forced about 335 families to flee from their homes to avoid getting caught in the crossfire to Marawi City and 657 families took refuge in Masiu, according to report.

The Butig clashes began when a supposed 'foreign and local terrorist organizatio', led by the Maute brothers, harassed the 51st Infantry Battalion, which had been manning a patrol base in Barangay Bayabao on February 20, 2016.

Armored personnel carriers and troops were sent to Butig, while the military used two 520MG Defender helicopters to track down the armed men and conducted air strikes against them. A lull in the fighting occurred that evening, but resumed at dawn the next.

Military sources said the skirmishes between Army forces and the Maute group turned into a full blown military offensive with troops using artillery, gunships, and armored personnel carriers against the suspected terrorists. MGP News