ZAMBOANGA CITY — The Philippine Army in Lanao del Sur on Sunday disclosed that it has temporarily placed three towns in Lanao del Norte under military control to allow the soldiers to clear the area of suspected members of the Dawlah Islamiyah-Maute terrorist group.

103rd Infantry “Haribon” Brigade commander Brig. Gen. Yegor Rey Barroquillo Jr. said that the towns of Pantao Ragat, Poona Piagapo and Munai in Lanao del Norte are temporarily placed under its operational control until March this year.

The 103rd IB — whose headquarters is located in in Kampo Ranao, Marawi City, Lanao del Sur — the town are under its control as it is adjacent to the village of Tapurog in Piagapo, Lanao del Sur — the site of an encounter between 15 suspected members of the Dawlah Islamiyah-Maute terrorist group.

During the encounter, nine suspected members of the DI-Maute terrorist group were killed while four soldiers were wounded.

Barroquillo said the DI-Maute terrorist group was led by alias Mahater together with alias Engineer, alias Omar and alias Khatab, allegedly responsible for the Mindanao State University bombing on 3 December 2023 which killed four people.

The slain suspects were identified through their aliases as Omar, Mikdad, Imam, Abdullah, Muhajeer, Hamza, Mauwiyah, Mohaimen and another who remained unidentified.

Barroquillo declined to identify the wounded soldiers but said they are now in stable condition at Amai Pakpak Medical Center where they were evacuated for medical treatment.