Philippine army launches assault on militantsMANILA -- Philippine troops, backed by bomber aircraft, have assaulted local sympathizers of the Islamic State group, including dozens of militants who took cover Saturday in an unoccupied Islamic school in the south, military officials said. Amid the military offensive, about 40 Maute militants took cover in a local Muslim school, locally known as madrasah, in Butig's Bayabao village. Air force choppers fired rockets and troops clashed with some of the militants in fighting that wounded two soldiers and wounded or killed an undetermined number of militants, military officials said. The Maute militants initially were affiliated with an Indonesian terror suspect known only as Sanusi who was killed in southern Marawi city, near Butig, in 2012. In March, the military launched a major offensive involving about 2,000 military personnel that killed 24 Maute militants and six soldiers and wounded dozens of other combatants in Butig in Lanao del Sur province.

Source: The China Post November 27, 2016 16:34 UTC