AT least eight Islamic militants were killed while two government troops were wounded after extremists fled to the abandoned town hall of Butig town in Lanao del Sur amid a military operation to capture the leader of the Maute jihadist group on Saturday morning. Gen. Restituto Padilla said about 200 Maute group members fled to the abandoned town hall after the military mounted an operation to capture their leader Abdullah Maute, a Jordanian-trained terrorist who formed the jihadist Dawlah Islamiya. Government troops train the heavy guns of the First Infantry Division on Butig town in Lanao del Sur where members of the jihadist Maute Group ensconced themselves as the military ran after their leader. The rebels even raised an Islamic State flag at the old town hall and positioned themselves in the nearby national high school and mosque. The Maute group, which operates mainly in the Lanao provinces, is also believed to have links to the Parojinog narcotics ring based in Ozamis City.

Source: The Standard November 26, 2016 14:15 UTC