Suspected Maute group men raid Lanao del Sur jail, free inmates

ILIGAN CITY—Armed men suspected to be members of the local terrorist group headed by the Maute clan raided the Lanao del Sur provincial jail operated by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Barangay Mapandi in Marawi City on Saturday and sprung a total of 28 inmates.

Among those who escaped with the armed men were eight suspected Maute group members, who were arrested in Lumbayanague town, also in Lanao del Sur on Aug. 22.

They included Hassim Balawag Maute alias Apple Jehad, Abul Jabbar Tominaman Macabading, Jamil Batoa Amerul, and Muhammad Sinodin Mulok.

Senior Supt. Agustine Tello, the Lanao del Sur police director, said BJMP personnel manning the jail were immediately overpowered by the attackers, who came in with guns ablazing past 5 p.m.

Tello said a manhunt, backed by the military, had been launched.

The Maute group, a local armed group drawing inspiration from the Islamic State, had been blamed for several bomb attacks and various incidents of kidnapping in Lanao del Sur.

In April, the group beheaded at least two of its kidnap victims—mostly hapless civilians.

During his recent visit to the headquarters of the 1st Infantry Division in Pulacan, Zamboanga del Sur, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the military to eradicate such group as the Maute clan.