Philippines air strike kills 11 militants

By AFP
December 03, 2023

MANILA: The Philippine military said Saturday an air strike killed 11 armed Islamist militants, nearly wiping out one of several small armed groups operating in the south of the country.

Acting on a civilian tipoff, two military aircraft attacked a mountainous village on the island of Mindanao, where fighters from the Dawlah Islamiyah-Philippines organisation were meeting on Friday, a regional military spokesman said.

Government troops escort rescue workers and trapped residents near the town centre where heavy fighting between troops and Muslim militants have been raging in Marawi, in southern island of Mindanao on June 1, 2017.  — AFP
Government troops escort rescue workers and trapped residents near the town centre where heavy fighting between troops and Muslim militants have been raging in Marawi, in southern island of Mindanao on June 1, 2017.  — AFP

Hours later, ground troops recovered the bodies of 11 Filipino militants including their alleged leader, Lieutenant-Colonel Dennis Almorato said. “They were planning to mount attacks in the Maguindanao del Sur (province). It was a good thing we were able to foil their plan,” he told AFP.

He said that Dawlah Islamiyah-Philippines is one of several militant groups either inspired by or linked to the Islamic State that are fighting to establish a caliphate in Mindanao, home of a large Muslim minority in the mainly Catholic Asian nation.

“They bomb buses, harass our detachments, and conduct special operations to assassinate undercover soldiers and police,” he added.