Marine Battalion Landing Team 7 and MBLT 5 troops had an encouter with unidentified number of local terror group members in the said village at around 3:30 a.m. which lasted until 6:30 pm on Friday.
In a radio report, one of the casualties was First Lt. Frederick Sabillano, commander from the MBLT7 who was the commander of the troops that retrieved almost P80-million worth of cash and cheques in the Maute groups hideout near the Mapandi bridge.
Reports states that 12 from the Marine fatalities belong to the Marine Battalion Landing Team 7 and the other fallen soldier is a member of Marine Battalion Landing Team 7 Marine Battalion Landing Team 5.
Authorities believed that there were also several killed members of the Maute group. Reports state that the enemies were armed with rocket-propelled grenades (RPG) and used improvised explosive devices during the clash, and they had also snipers inside the village.
As of today, total of 58 fatalities recorded due to clashes.
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said on Saturday that the Maute militant group has now a total of 138 Maute members and unfortunately, 21 civilians have been killed in the clashes.
Currently, government authorities believe that there are still 1,000 trapped civilians within Marawi City's war zones and over 35,000 individuals are still displaced.
"It instead primed up our determination to continue our prudent advances to neutralize the enemy, save the innocent lives trapped in the fight, and set the conditions for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Marawi," AFP public affairs chief Col. Edgard Arevalo said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the Philippines military stated that the United States joined the battle against the local terrorists. They said that the US is helping them with technical assistance to end the war against the allies of the ISIS.
Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jo-Ar Herrera said that US aren't fighting but are just providing technical support.
"They are not fighting. They are just providing technical support," he said.
The US embassy confirmed it had offered support, at the request of the Philippines government, but gave no details. Media stated that the US P3 Orion surveillance plane was seen flying over the town on Friday.
Source: Phitizen; Straitstimes
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