MANILA: Government security forces supported by artillery and helicopters have seized a pro-Daesh militant stronghold in the southern Philippines following a series of running skirmishes with extremists.
Three members of the radical Maute group were killed and three soldiers wounded in the attack, an army spokesman said on Friday.
Fighting broke out a few days after the historic plebiscite on the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), which offers greater autonomy to the Philippines’ Muslim minority.
Col. Romeo Brawner, Jr., the 103rd Infantry Brigade commander, said fighting erupted between troops and remnants of the Maute group early on Thursday in Sultan Dumalondong, Lanao del Sur, about 50 km from Marawi City.
The city was the site of the bloody five-month siege by militants in 2017.
Residents in nearby communities were told to stay calm and remain indoors during more than 10 hours of skirmishing.
The attack on Thursday followed a relentless campaign by security forces against the militants in recent months.
“We acted on the information reported by residents and local chief executives,” the army said in a statement.
“The enemy was taken by surprise, but we met fierce resistance as soon as we hit their final defensive lines,” the statement read.
Brawner said the group had been hiding in the Lanao del Sur hinterland where they were familiar with the terrain.
“Despite the enemy’s knowledge of the terrain, accurate supporting fire allowed our troops to gain ground and penetrate their defensive lines,” said Brawner.
Fire support by artillery and helicopters forced the extremists to retreat into their bunkers.
The militant stronghold made use of trenches and fortified bunkers, and a training camp was found close to the terrorists’ defensive lines.
“After massive information dissemination, people are aware of the destruction wrought by these violent extremists,” Brawner said. “People now willingly give out information to government troops to rid their communities of terrorists.”
“With the support we are receiving from the populace, we are liberating communities from the influence of the Maute group,” he added.
Brawner said the militants were no longer capable of mounting large-scale attacks, but could still stage “spoiling attacks” to make their presence felt.
“We expect the terrorist group to attack indiscriminately, targeting Muslim and Christian communities alike,” he said.
Sustained military operations will be a cornerstone in the government’s campaign against militants.
“We will weaken their will to fight — either through lethal or non-lethal means,” Brawner said.
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Troops seize jungle hideout after clashes with pro-Daesh fighters in Philippines
Troops seize jungle hideout after clashes with pro-Daesh fighters in Philippines
- Three members of the radical Maute group were killed and three soldiers wounded in the attack
- Fighting broke out a few days after the historic plebiscite on the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), which offers greater autonomy to the Philippines’ Muslim minority
French court rejects bid to reopen probe into black man’s death in custody
PARIS: France’s top court on Wednesday ruled against reopening an investigation into the 2016 death of a young black man in police custody, confirming a previous decision to dismiss the case against three arresting officers.
The Court of Cassation’s decision definitively closes the case nearly a decade after the death of 24-year-old Adama Traore following his arrest in the Paris suburb of Beaumont-sur-Oise, a fatality that triggered national outcry over police brutality and racism.
Traore’s family was contesting a 2024 appeal court ruling confirming a prior decision to drop the case, after an investigation led to no charges against the military policemen — or gendarmes — involved and therefore no case in court.
A lawyer representing his family announced after Wednesday’s ruling they would take the case to the European Court of Human Rights to “have France convicted.”
Three gendarmes pursued the young man on July 19, 2016, when temperatures reached nearly 37C, pinning him down in an apartment, after which he told officers he was “having trouble breathing.”
He then fainted during the journey to a gendarmerie station, where he died.
’Probably’ not fatal
In 2023, French investigating magistrates dropped the case against the three gendarmes, in a ruling that was upheld on appeal in 2024.
They had been tasked with probing whether the three arresting officers used disproportionate force against Traore during a police operation targeting his brother, Bagui.
According to the magistrates, Traore’s death was caused by heatstroke that “probably” would not have been fatal without the officers’ intervention — though it concluded their actions were within legal bounds.
His family however has accused the gendarmes of failing to help the young man, who was found by rescue services unconscious and handcuffed behind his back.
In their appeal, Traore’s family criticized the justice system for not carrying out a reconstitution of events as part of the investigation.
But prosecutors requested that the appeal be dismissed.
Internal investigations
Activists have repeatedly accused French police of violence and racism, but few cases make it to criminal court in France as most are dealt with internally.
In January, several thousand people protested in Paris over the death in custody of a Mauritanian immigrant worker, El Hacen Diarra, 35, who died after passing out at a police station following his violent arrest.
Paris police launched an internal investigation after video filmed by neighbors, shared on social media, showed a policeman punching what appears to be a man on the ground as another officer stands by and watches.
In 2024, a judge gave suspended jail sentences to three officers who inflicted irreversible rectal injuries to a black man, Theo Luhaka, during a stop-and-search in 2017.
Prosecutors have also called for a police officer to be tried over the 2023 killing of a teenager at a traffic stop, in a case that sparked nationwide protests.
A court is to rule in March whether he will face a criminal trial over the killing of 17-year-old Nahel M.
Europe’s top rights court in June condemned France over its police discriminating against a young man during identity checks, in the first such ruling against the country over alleged racial profiling.
The Court of Cassation’s decision definitively closes the case nearly a decade after the death of 24-year-old Adama Traore following his arrest in the Paris suburb of Beaumont-sur-Oise, a fatality that triggered national outcry over police brutality and racism.
Traore’s family was contesting a 2024 appeal court ruling confirming a prior decision to drop the case, after an investigation led to no charges against the military policemen — or gendarmes — involved and therefore no case in court.
A lawyer representing his family announced after Wednesday’s ruling they would take the case to the European Court of Human Rights to “have France convicted.”
Three gendarmes pursued the young man on July 19, 2016, when temperatures reached nearly 37C, pinning him down in an apartment, after which he told officers he was “having trouble breathing.”
He then fainted during the journey to a gendarmerie station, where he died.
’Probably’ not fatal
In 2023, French investigating magistrates dropped the case against the three gendarmes, in a ruling that was upheld on appeal in 2024.
They had been tasked with probing whether the three arresting officers used disproportionate force against Traore during a police operation targeting his brother, Bagui.
According to the magistrates, Traore’s death was caused by heatstroke that “probably” would not have been fatal without the officers’ intervention — though it concluded their actions were within legal bounds.
His family however has accused the gendarmes of failing to help the young man, who was found by rescue services unconscious and handcuffed behind his back.
In their appeal, Traore’s family criticized the justice system for not carrying out a reconstitution of events as part of the investigation.
But prosecutors requested that the appeal be dismissed.
Internal investigations
Activists have repeatedly accused French police of violence and racism, but few cases make it to criminal court in France as most are dealt with internally.
In January, several thousand people protested in Paris over the death in custody of a Mauritanian immigrant worker, El Hacen Diarra, 35, who died after passing out at a police station following his violent arrest.
Paris police launched an internal investigation after video filmed by neighbors, shared on social media, showed a policeman punching what appears to be a man on the ground as another officer stands by and watches.
In 2024, a judge gave suspended jail sentences to three officers who inflicted irreversible rectal injuries to a black man, Theo Luhaka, during a stop-and-search in 2017.
Prosecutors have also called for a police officer to be tried over the 2023 killing of a teenager at a traffic stop, in a case that sparked nationwide protests.
A court is to rule in March whether he will face a criminal trial over the killing of 17-year-old Nahel M.
Europe’s top rights court in June condemned France over its police discriminating against a young man during identity checks, in the first such ruling against the country over alleged racial profiling.
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