Matapos kumpirmahin kahapon na nasa 31 miyembro ng Maute Group na ang napapaslang sa patuloy na bakbakan sa Marawi City, sinabi ng Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) na nasa anim sa nabanggit na bilang ng mga napatay na terorista ay dayuhan.
“Yes, there are also certain elements here who have been in the country for a long time, aiding these terrorists in skills related to terrorism primarily bomb making,” sinabi kahapon ni AFP Spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla.
“There are also Malaysians, Singaporeans, and in the fight that has been ongoing in Marawi, we are continuously verifying that there have been a number of them who have been killed,” dagdag niya.
“(There are) Malaysians, Indonesians, and one other which I could not remember. So, that confirms the presence of these foreign terrorists,” ani Padilla.
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13 PATAY, 39 SUGATAN
Sinabi pa ng AFP na 11 sundalo at dalawang pulis na ang nalalagas mula sa puwersa ng gobyerno sa ikatlong araw ng sagupaan sa Marawi.
Ayon kay Padilla, may 39 na iba pa sa tropa ng pamahalaan ang napaulat na nasugatan sa patuloy na pagpupursige ng gobyerno na mapulbos ang Maute, na sinasabing kasama ng Abu Sayyaf leader na si Isnilon Hapilon.
“Our men and women in the Armed Forces is committed to their mission and because of this commitment, it is not... it is sad that we have to offer lives in order to accomplish that. And yesterday (Thursday) we lost six more (men) and seven wounded, bringing the total number as of 12 midnight last night (Thursday) to 11 members of the Armed Forces killed, and two members of the Philippine National Police,” sinabi ni Padilla sa press briefing sa Royal Mandaya Hotel sa Davao City.
“One of whom was an officer who was assigned in the area and who was brutally killed by way of beheading,” dagdag pa ni Padilla.
21,000 LUMIKAS
Samantala, tinukoy naman sa datos ng Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao-Humanitarian Emergency Action and Response Team (ARMM-HEART) na nasa 4,182 pamilya o 20,914 na indibiduwal ang pansamantalang lumikas mula sa Marawi upang makaiwas sa labanan.
Karamihan sa mga nagsilikas na pamilya ay nakatuloy ngayon sa mga evacuation center sa Iligan City.
(FRANCIS T. WAKEFIELD)
