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MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte said he received reports that the international terrorist group Islamic State (IS) is connected with the local terror group Maute.
“We are not good today because finally, finally, intelligence community advised me that IS has finally connected with the group in the Philippines called the Maute,” he said. “There’s a raging war now in Lanao.”
The Maute group occupied Butig’s town center in Lanao del Sur on Saturday, five months after the military freed the town from the group’s presence. It raised a black IS flag in place of the Philippine flag.
Its leaders, Omar and Abdullah Maute, already pledged allegiance to the IS and use the international group’s name and symbol.
The IS is a Salafi jihadist militant group widely criticized for its terrorist activities, particularly in the Middle East.
Military spokesman Brigadier General Restituto Padilla earlier denied links between the Maute group and the IS and said the Maute’s reoccupation of Butig was a “propaganda activity” meant to attract international attention.
On Monday the firefight between the military and the terrorist group entered its third day, leaving thousands of local villagers displaced. (ABS-CBN News)
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