THE Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (Opapp) confirmed that airstrikes and ground operations on Sunday, June 10, destroyed bomb-making factories run by a Daesh-inspired group in the southern portion of Liguasan Marsh in Maguindanao, led to the arrest of two suspects and forced around 10,000 residents out of their homes into evacuation centers.
Fifteen were confirmed killed, eight wounded, and one bomb expert and his wife were arrested in the pre-dawn raid on the terrorist lair.
Opapp on Monday, June 11, called on the evacuees to return home as the operation has already ended.
The ground assault was launched by the 33rd Infantry Battalion led by Lieutenant Colonel Harold M. Cabunoc, 4th Special Action Battalion led by P/Superintendent Darwin Padla, and 61st Division Reconnaissance Company led by First Lieutenant Ruel Fortuna.
The duo who surrendered were identified as Ustadz Anwar Ali, 22, and Asnaya Ali, 20.
"The suspects threw their weapons and improvised bombs in the water when we blocked all their escape routes. Ustadz Anwar is known as Abu Omar, a bomb expert in the group," Cabunoc said.
On Sunday, June 10, 2018, the 6th Infantry Division (ID) of the Philippine Army conducted military operations against a group of Daesh-inspired bomb-makers holed out in the southern portion of Liguasan Marsh in Maguindanao.
"It was a combination of surgical airstrikes on confirmed targets and focused ground operations against the group," a statement from Opapp emailed Monday with regards the military operations last Sunday, June 10, 2018 carried out by the 6th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army.
"The operation was successful, resulting in the eradication of identified IED factories. Follow-up operations are also being conducted to ensure that terrorists are confined in the area," the statement said.
Contrary to general beliefs by kibitzers, the operation was conducted with full coordination with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH). The targeted areas were also confined to locations that are far from communities, Opapp said.