MANILA, Philippines — The extremist Daulah Islamiyah-Maute group is on the run, said Philippine Army chief Lt. Gen. Roy Galido on Wednesday.
“Ang Daulah Islamiyah ay maliit na grupo nalang po, naka-isolate sa isang lugar na mahirap din punatahan. In short, they are on the run. Napaka-agresibo po ng Army kaya nga po nung nakaraang buwan, may nasawi sa mga kasamahan namin dahil we are really aggressive in running after them,” said Galido on the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing
(The Daulah Islamiyah is now just a small group that is isolated in a place that is hard to reach. In short, they are on the run. The Army is very aggressive; that is why we lost some personnel in the last few months because we were so aggressive in going after them.)
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Two of the suspects in the December 2023 bombing at the Marawi State University were traced to the Daulah Islamiyah-Maute Group. The bombing killed four people and injured 50 others.
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Galido said that they do not want to leave space for the militants to commit further crimes.
Furthermore, the Army chief said that the number of guerilla fronts has been reduced but did not specify how many are left. He said that the fronts were reduced because the government was successful in ensuring that its services reach vulnerable areas.
However, Galido admitted that there were a few guerilla fronts left in Samar and Bicol.