ILIGAN CITY, Lanao del Norte, Philippines — The number of Islamic extremist Dawlah Islamiyah (DI) fighters killed during a two-hour fighting with government troops on Thursday in Piagapo, Lanao del Sur province, rose to nine after soldiers discovered one more fatality at the clash site on Friday.
Brig. Gen. Yegor Rey Baroquillo Jr., the Army’s 103rd Infantry Brigade commander, said the ninth fatality was found by a team of scout rangers in Barangay Taporug.
Four soldiers were also wounded in fighting on Friday. The military had said that among the DI gunmen who fought off the soldiers were involved in the bombing at Mindanao State University (MSU) in Marawi City last Dec. 3, which killed four and injured at least 40.
READ: 9 Dawlah Islamiyah members killed in Army ops in Lanao del Sur
Authorities were still determining if any of the fatalities took part in the MSU bombing.