45 slain as military hits terror group

FORTY-FIVE people, including 42 “terrorists,” were killed while 11 others were wounded as government forces overran their enemy’s stronghold in Lanao del Sur, a military official revealed yesterday.

Maj. Felimon Tan Jr., Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) information officer, said troops captured the stronghold of the alleged terrorist group before sunset Thursday in Butig, Lanao del Sur.

Tan disclosed three of the 45 people killed were soldiers as well as all of the 11 wounded.

Tan did not release the names of the slain and wounded soldiers except to say they belong to the Army’s 103rd Infantry Brigade.

He said they received intelligence reports “from the ground” that the Isis-inspired group lost 42 of its fighters.

He said the troops recovered high-powered firearms that included two Rocket-Propelled Grenade (RPG) launchers; two M-16 Armalite rifles; and, a homemade calibre .50 rifle.

He said the offensive “continues until today” against the “terrorists who are on the run.”

The fighting in Butig, Lanao del Sur broke out after extremists, assisted by foreigners who reportedly pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis), attacked an Army detachment on Saturday.

On Tuesday, Tan reported the death of Omar Maute, the head of the organization, who spearheaded the attack on the detachment of the 51st Infantry Battalion in Butig, Lanao del Sur in Feb. 20.

Some 40 to 80 armed men took part in the raid which lasted until early Feb. 21, along with Omar’s younger brother, according to Tan.

Tan based this claim on intelligence reports which claimed that Maute was killed in the constant air and artillery strikes against them.

The Mautes are believed to be allied to elements of the Jemaah Islamiyah, and have connections to a foreign terrorist neutralized in 2012.