AIR Force F50 fighter jets bombed suspected camps of the Maute-ISIS group as the military launched a brigade-size operation in Maguing, Lanao del Sur early dawn today.
Brigadier Gen. Jose Maria Cuerpo II, commanding general of the Army 103rd Infantry Brigade, said two Dawlah Islamiya members were killed while three soldiers were wounded in the initial fighting in the hinterlands of Maguing town Tuesday.
Cuerpo said soldiers have seized two assault rifles and a caliber 30 machine gun from the militants.
The ground operations against the militants were preceded by the bombing by Philippine Air Force F50 coming from Ebuen Air Base in Mactan, Cebu.
Cuerpo said the jets provided close support to the soldiers on the ground by blasting the anti-personnel landmines planted by the militants along the path to the camps.
The sonic booms from the jets, however, roused many residents in Marawi City and Lanao del Sur from their sleep.
Drieza Liningding, leader of the Marawi Consensus group said the military should have informed residents of the military operation.
Liningding questioned the manner of employing aerial bombardments in areas with many civilians.
“Yung target ba confirmed na lawless elements? (May) mga agents ba in the ground to confirm? Is there an ongoing firefight in the area,” he posted on his Facebook page this morning.
Liningding said the loud explosions from Maguing town frightened many residents in Marawi City and nearby municipalities, some forty kilometers away.
“Bakit hindi alam ng mismo mga komunidad? Yan ba ang new normal ― bomba muna bago confirm? Marami ang natakot dahil sa lakas ng tunog ng mga bomba na bumagsak na kahit dito sa Marawi City at mga karatig munisipyo ay narinig,” he said.
AFP Western Command chief Lt. Gen. Alfredo Romero Jr., appealed for the residents to be calm assuring them that the Army is ensuring their safety.
Romero said the operation has precise information on which target is to be hit.
“We have (watched) this band of terrorists for a long time. We are conducting a deliberate operation against them,” Romero said.
Cuerpo said their targets are militants led by the new Dawlah Islamiya (DI) leader, Faharudin Hadji Satar alias Abu Bakar or Abu Zacaria.
He said the group of Zacaria merged with the remnants of the DI group led by Salahudin Hassan, the emir of the militants in Central Mindanao.
Soldiers killed Hassan along with his wife during a raid in Talayan City in October last year. (With reports from Cong Corrales)
