Soldiers clash with armed men in Lanao Sur; firearms, explosives, radio sets seized

MARAWI CITY––Soldiers clashed Sunday with some 20 armed men for about 40 minutes in a forested area of Maguing town in Lanao del Sur.

Brig. Gen. Jose Maria Cuerpo, commander of the Army’s 103rd Infantry Brigade, said there was no casualty among the government troops. They are still determining if there were among the armed men.

Cuerpo said the soldiers were on combat operation to check on Tower 65 of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines that was bombed on Nov. 30.

“We were checking the areas near the towers from Amai Manabilang (town) when we encountered the group,” Cuerpo said in a text message.

The Army said the armed men, who figured in a clash with the soldiers last Sunday, maybe the same ones who bombed NGCP’s Tower 65 in Barangay Dilimbayan, Maguing town.

“The encounter area is about five kilometers from the damaged transmission tower, but still we are not taking out the probability that these armed men were suspects in the sabotage because they are capable of it,” Cuerpo said.

After clearing the encounter site, soldiers seized three rifle grenades, C4 explosives, 61 rounds of AK47 ammunition, a magazine loaded with 24 rounds of M16 ammunition, several rounds of M60 machine gun ammunition, several fuses for improvised bombs, detonating cord, medical kits, radio sets, charger, subversive documents, and flags of the communist New People’s Army.

lzb