LANAO DEL SUR, Philippines — Authorities foiled Wednesday an attempt by five men and two women to enter Marawi City wearing Army and police uniforms. Ariel Cabanes Bijaan, Pacito Sabuclalao Villanueva, Juniper Adlawan Alestre, Bienvenido Malasa Sepe, Florante Ramos Alejandrino, Rufina Gomez Gayatao and Elsie Timola Lantong, are now detained at the Marawi City police station, undergoing interrogation. Sindac said the suspects were immediately arrested when checkpoint sentries noticed that the Army uniforms they wore have different unit insignias. “They have different kinds of identification cards too,” Sindac said, citing an initial report by the Marawi City police office. Arafat, 38, was positively identified by evacuees from Marawi City as henchman of siblings Omar and Abdullah Maute.

Source: Philippine Star July 27, 2017 07:30 UTC