THE Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) clarified Friday that the second botched air strike that missed its target and instead killed two soldiers and injured 11 others was a "mishap" and not a "friendly fire."
AFP spokesman Brigadier General Restituto Padilla Jr. explained that the May 31 air strike accident was different from the July 12 incident, because the two soldiers died because of buildings that collapsed when an air raid was launched.
"I want to clarify that the first incident could be called friendly fire because the bomb that fell from the airplane hit the areas where our soldiers were staying," Padilla Jr. told a press conference.
"The second incident, we could not consider it as friendly fire per se because technically, [the air strike] did not hit our soldiers. It just became consequential because of the explosion and destruction of buildings where they were hiding," he added.
Initial reports from Task Force Marawi on Wednesday found that the bomb from an air strike, which was 250 meters off target, caused the collapsed of nearby structures that accidentally hit two of security troops and left 11 others wounded.
It could be recalled that on May 31, around 11 government forces were slain due to foiled air strike launch.
Padilla said the latest incident was a "mishap" because "the bomb did not fall on the troops."
He also stressed that the injuries sustained by the 11 security personnel were "not serious" and "all ambulatory in nature."
"The cause is the bomb did not fall on the troops itself but fell in an approximate area that caused an infrastructure to topple down and the debris which fell caused the death of two of our men and injury to 11 others," he said.
Padilla said the government learned a lesson from the repeated air strike incident.
The government forces continue to intensify offensives against Maute terror group that wreaked havoc in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur last May 23.
Part of troops' operations is to launch air strike despite fears among innocent civilians.
The Marawi City death toll has risen to 532, including 45 civilians, 394 terrorists, and 93 government troops, as of July 13. (SunStar Philippines)