Local ISIS kills soldier and wounds 3 in Lanao Sur
A government soldier was killed and three others wounded after local ISIS fighters attacked a group of Marines in the restive Muslim province of Lanao del Sur, a known stronghold of the terrorist group in the southern Philippines.
Police confirmed the weekend attack which occurred in the village of Cabasaran in Marogong town. It said the soldiers are members of the 2nd Marine Battalion Landing Team and the lone fatality was identified as Sgt. Tonti Melbert Pamaran.
No other details were made available by the police and the military’s Western Mindanao Command and the 6th Infantry Division. The Philippine Marines have not issued any report on the ambush. No individual or group claimed responsibility for the attack, but police said the perpetrators were members of the Dawlah Islamiya or Islamic State.
The attack came days after United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin 3rd visited the Western Mindanao Command in Zamboanga City and met with American soldiers helping train Filipino troops in counterterrorism in the South.
Meanwhile in Sulu, security forces killed seven people following a fierce gun battle that wounded a police commando and two civilians, officials said Monday, February 6.
Officials said members of the Special Action Force were sent to the town of Maimbung on Sunday, February 5, to arrest a wanted man, Juko Dahim, but were fired upon by a group of gunmen, sparking a heavy firefight.
Soldiers from the 41st Infantry Battalion were quickly sent to the town to reinforce the commandos and eventually killed Dahim and his followers. Two other followers of Dahim were also captured.
“The firefight resulted in the wounding of one PNP-SAF personnel and the deaths of seven lawless personalities including the target,” said Army Lt. Col. Abdurasad Sirajan, a spokesman for the Western Mindanao Command.
Two civilians who were caught in the crossfire were rushed to the hospital in the capital town of Jolo, according to Sirajan.
He said security forces also recovered automatic weapons and a grenade launcher from the slain gunmen.
It was unknown whether those killed were members of the Abu Sayyaf, whose leaders pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.
Source: msn
