Clashes enter third day as Army vows to finish off Maute

The impact of the Maute group on communities that are caught in the crossfire is most visible in Butig, Lanao del Sur, where this high school building was left barely standing when the armed forces launched air strikes on the terrorists in December last year. —RICHEL V. UMEL

MARAWI CITY—Clashes went on for a third day between government troops and members of the Maute terror group in Lanao del Sur as the military claimed the terrorists suffered heavy casualties, though officials are still checking the numbers.

Initial reports said at least 15 Maute members had been killed but the military said they were still being checked.

Brig. Gen. Rolando Joselito Bautista, chief of the Army’s First Infantry Division, said gun battles, which started on Friday, continued on Sunday in the town of Piagapo.

Bautista said the military offensive was part of the “firm directive” of President Duterte to “destroy” the terror group.

He said the operations were conducted in coordination with the local government and residents who “pinpointed the exact location of armed men who entered Piagapo town.”

The military still has to validate the residents’ report that 15 members of the Maute group were killed, Bautista said.

There was no reported casualty on the government side.

Piagapo Mayor Ali Sumandar, in a text message, said some 300 families evacuated to safer grounds.

Police and military in neighboring Lanao del Norte and Iligan City are on heightened alert, setting up random checkpoints at entrance and exit areas to prevent a spillover of the gun battles.

Senior Supt. Leony Roy Ga, police chief of Iligan City, said police in the city had yet to take extra security measures to prevent the entry of Maute members or sympathizers who could launch attacks to divert heat away from terrorists fighting government forces in Lanao del Sur.

Originally based in Butig town, the Maute group, which has been blamed for a series of kidnappings, bombings and extortion activities in some parts of Mindanao, was reported to have moved to Piagapo. —RICHEL V. UMEL