Lanao Sur battlezone not MILF area: Philippine armed forces

Lt. Gen Alfredo Rosario Jr (second right), chief of the Western Mindanao Command, and other military officials on March 3 inspect firearms seized after clashes between government troops and Islamic State-linked groups in Maguing, Lanao del Sur. - PDI

MARAWI CITY (Philippines Daily Inquirer/Asia News Network): The Armed Forces of the Philippines maintained on Thursday (March 3) that the Daulah Islamiyah (DI)-Maute group camp raided by troopers in Maguing, Lanao del Sur, was not within the territory of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Col. Ramon Zagala, AFP spokesperson, told the Inquirer that MILF representatives had confirmed that the target of the military operations on Tuesday at Barangay Ilalag were members of the Islamic State (IS)-linked DI and remnants of the Maute group.