MANILA, June 18 (Xinhua) -- A total of 22 rebel fighters have been killed as Philippine military started fresh offensive against militant groups in the country's southern provinces, a military spokesman said Monday.
Five members of the Maute Group were killed following an airstrike of their lair in Lanao del Sur on Sunday, and 17 men from Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) were killed in Maguindanao recently, during fresh offensive against the two rebel factions in two southern provinces.
Col. Romeo Brawner, spokesman of the military's Joint Task Force Ranao, said bomber planes and helicopter gunships hit the encampment in a village of Lanao del Sur province where 40 Maute men were earlier sighted.
Brawner said the terrorist were led by senior Maute leader Owayda benito Marohomsar, alias Abu Dar, one of the potential candidates as ISIS emir in Southeast Asia, possible successor of Isnilon Hapilon.
Hapilon was among the nearly 1,000 terrorists who died in the five-month long siege of Marawi City last year. "Among the 10 leaders who planned (the Marawi siege), Abu Dar is the only one remaining. The nine others were already killed," said Brawner.
Meanwhile, in its adjacent province of Maguindanao, also in Mindanao Island, military was pursuing BIFF remainders, as government forces launched operations about two weeks ago. The operation has so far resulted in the death of about 17 BIFF men and destruction of the group's bomb factory.
Sadly, a four-month pregnant woman died and a young female relative was injured in an explosion in a town in Maguindanao on Saturday, when they were tilling their rice land. The site is four km away from an area where soldiers were pursuing BIFF members.
Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc, commander of the local infantry battalion, said further investigations are ongoing to determine if the ordnance that killed the two civilians, came from the military or from the enemy, and soldiers will be punished if they were indeed at fault.
The military have asked the public to stay calm, and said they are making sure that the hostilities will not extend beyond the mountainous areas.
For decades, Mindanao has grappled with insurgencies, including pro-IS radical groups like the Abu Sayyaf Groups, Maute Groups and the BIFF for kidnappings and bombings in the region.
