You have commented 338 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Southeast Asia
Duterte deploys commandos, attack helicopters to retake Marawi from ISIS-linked fighters
2017-05-26
[RT] Philippines special forces launched an attack on Islamist krazed killer positions in Marawi City early Thursday morning in a bid to retake the city from the ISIS-affiliated Maute group. The operation involved ground troops supported by attack helicopters.

"We're confronting maybe 30 to 40 remaining from the local terrorist group," said Jo-Ar Herrera, front man for the military's First Infantry Regiment, as cited by Rooters.

"The military is conducting precise, surgical operations to flush them out... The situation is very fluid and movements are dynamic because we wanted to out-step and outmaneuver them."

Ground troops engaged Maute fighters ‐ affiliated to IS (Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
, formerly ISIS/ISIS) ‐ while attack helicopters bombarded their positions from above with heavy machine gun fire and rockets.

Some 18 rebels and six soldiers were killed in the operation according to an army spokesperson cited by Rooters.

RT reached out to Marawi resident and eyewitness Chico Dimaro Usman who has captured the carnage in detail, uploading images and video to Facebook.

The air raids continued throughout the morning into mid-afternoon but Usman captured both raids on camera.

RT has corroborated that the videos were taken in the region through comparisons of local topography in the videos with imagery from Google Earth.

Local weather reports confirm roughly 90 percent cloud cover in the area around Marawi City which matches the footage taken by Usman.

RT obtained private statements from Usman confirming that he is in the area. Out of concern for his and his family’s safety, RT is not disclosing his exact location at this time.

So far, a total of 46 people including 15 security forces and 31 Maute fighters have been killed in Marawi City reports Rooters.
Posted by:Fred

00:00