More Maute militants surrender in Lanao del Sur

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — Seven more Maute militants surrendered in Lanao del Sur on Thursday.

The militants turned over two M16 rifles, an M14, an Uzi, two caliber .45 pistols and a 9mm to Lt. Col. Ian Noel Ignes, 55th Infantry Battalion (IB) commander, in Lumbaca Unayan town.  

Nine Maute fighters, including a 15-year-old, have surrendered in Lanao del Norte this week, bringing the total number of surrenderees this month to 30. 

Capt. Clint Antipala, acting public affairs chief of the First Army Division, said the surrenderees are undergoing custodial debriefing at the camp of Joint Task Force Ranao. 

Maj. Gen. Roseller Murillo, Joint Task Force Zampelan commander, commended the efforts of soldiers and other stakeholders for the surrenders.

Murillo said the surrender of Maute members is an indication of the weakening of the leadership and capabilities of the group.

“We encourage the others to lay down their arms and live peacefully... We will continue to work with stakeholders to ensure that more Maute members will surrender,” Murillo said.

‘No foreign militants’ 

Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, 6th Army Division and Joint Task Force Central commander, disputed reports that militant groups with links to the Islamic State (IS) are on the rise in Mindanao due to the arrival of foreign militants.

Sobejana was reacting to a  web-based journal quoting analysts as saying that there are around 100 foreign militants in the Philippines and that foreigners who participated in the Marawi siege last year remain active in pushing for the establishment of an IS base. 

“We have not monitored any foreign fighter coming in,” he said. 

Sobejana said five foreign militants, including Indonesians, were monitored at the height of the fighting in Marawi, but they could have been neutralized after the military overran a bomb factory along Liguasan marsh earlier this year.

Sobejana said reports on the presence of  foreign militants were “old information that needs to be validated.” – Michael Punongbayan