Air strike on militants kills two soldiers, injures 11 others
A GOVERNMENT air strike aimed at Islamist rebels mistakenly killed two soldiers on Wednesday, the military said, the second such deadly accident in a bloody campaign to oust the militants from the southern city of Marawi.
The accident happened when a plane bombing rebel positions in the city missed its target and knocked down buildings on to the soldiers, a military spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Jo-Ar Herrera, said in a statement.
“Large debris from heavily reinforced buildings accidentally hit two of our personnel,” Mr. Herrera said. “We are saddened by this unfortunate incident.”
He said 11 soldiers sustained minor shrapnel wounds and were recuperating in the hospital.
An air strike on Islamist rebels killed 11 government troops in May. Militants linked to the Islamic State seized Marawi on May 23 and have been resisting daily assaults by government forces using aircraft and artillery.
President Rodrigo R. Duterte said on Tuesday he needed 15 more days to defeat the militants.
More than 500 people have been killed since the fighting erupted — 389 militants, 90 members of the security forces, and 45 civilians, including the most recently discovered remains of six people.
More than 300,000 residents of Marawi City and surrounding towns have been displaced.
Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana, in a separate statement, expressed grief and condolences over what the military calls “air strike accident or mishap.”
Mr. Lorenzana said such incidents “reflect the harsh nature of urban warfare where soldiers operate in tight spaces and in close proximity to the enemy.”
“What happened yesterday and last month, when several of our marines inadvertently perished because of a wayward ordnance dropped from an aircraft, reflect the harsh nature of urban warfare where soldiers operate in tight spaces and in close proximity to the enemy. The problems we face are the same as those confronted by other nations fighting terrorists in places like Mosul, Fallujah, and Raqqa,” he said.
He added that the military is “now reviewing and recalibrating its existing doctrines in order for the troops to adapt and respond to this evolving type of war.”
CIVILIANS KILLED
Meanwhile, the remains of six people were discovered by government troops on Wednesday morning in a place that is assumed to be one of the execution sites used by the terrorists in murdering civilians.
Lt.-Col. Emmanuel R. Garcia, 4th Civil Relations Group commander of the Western Mindanao Command (WesMinCom), said the remains are believed to be that of the six individuals whom the terror group executed in the early part of the crisis as shown on a video they released through the Internet.
Lt.-Gen. Carlito G. Galvez, Jr., WestMinCom commander said, “The brutal execution is proof of their un-Islamic ways, these terrorists do not respect anyone or anything.”
Officials said they believe the civilian casualty count would still go higher based on narrations by rescued hostages, who said more have been killed for “defying” the orders of their terrorist captors.
The basis of the counting, they explained, depends on actual body recovered and forensic examination. — Reuters with a report from Jil Daanielle M. Caro
