8 terrorists killed in Lanao del Sur clash

ILIGAN CITY — Army troopers clashed with members of the Islamic State-linked Dawlah Islamiyah (DI) on Thursday and Friday in Piagapo town of Lanao del Sur province, killing eight terrorists and wounding four soldiers, Armed Forces officials said.

Brig. Gen. Yegor Rey Baroquillo Jr., commander of the Army’s 103rd Infantry Brigade, said the encounter took place in the hinterland village of Taporug, near the mountain boundary of Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur provinces.

Troops from the 7th Scout Ranger Company encountered some 15 armed men at around 4:45 p.m. while they were on a pursuit mission against suspects in the Dec. 3, 2023 bombing during at the gymnasium of the Mindanao State University (MSU) in Marawi City that had left four dead and 50 others wounded. The fighting lasted for about two hours, Baroquillo said.

As the gunfire subsided, some of the soldiers, who were equipped with night vision goggles, pursued the withdrawing terrorists, while others scoured the area. The soldiers discovered the eight fatalities clutching their respective high-powered assault rifles.

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Four soldiers were wounded in a pursuit operation on Friday and rushed to local hospitals, said Baroquillo. No evacuation

Baroquillo said they had not monitored any evacuation of community folk, probably because the clash site is far from residential settlements, and that the Army did not employ air or artillery strikes.

On Friday, Brig. Gen. Anthon Abrina, commander of the Army’s 2nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade, told the Inquirer that he has ordered his troops stationed in Lanao del Norte to be on heightened alert.

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Abrina said more troops from the 4th and 5th Mechanized Infantry Battalions were deployed and several checkpoints were established along the national highway in the towns of Linamon, Kauswagan, Bacolod and Maigo to ensure the safety of civilians.

The mountainous border communities of Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte are the usual lairs of DI terrorists, serving as either rear or forward camps where they launch attacks.

Last Jan. 3, two Army intelligence operatives were killed in an ambush by DI gunmen in Munai town, Lanao del Norte, as they were traveling from nearby Piagapo, Lanao del Sur.

The terrorists carted away the slain soldiers’ service firearms, ammunition and personal belongings. —WITH REPORTS FROM LEAH D. AGONOY INQ