Troops kill gunman in Lanao Sur clash

PAGADIAN CITY – Government soldiers clashed with gunmen and killed one of them in a clash Saturday in Lanao del Sur’s Lumba Bayabao town in the restive Muslim autonomous region in southern Philippines, officials said.

Officials said members of the 49^th Infantry Battalion assaulted an encampment and clashed with some 20 armed men. The fighting lasted about 15 minutes after soldiers overran the hideout.

The gunmen splitting into smaller groups and fled.

Soldiers recovered the body of the slain fighter and two automatic rifles and a rocket propelled grenade launcher, and subversive documents and other war materials, according to Maj. Gen. Generoso Ponio, commander of the 1^st Infantry Division, in a report released by the Western Mindanao Command.

Ponio did not say whether the gunmen were communist rebels or pro-ISIS militants. Both armed groups are actively operating in the province and nearby areas. 

The Western Mindanao Command did not release further details of the clash. (Zamboanga Post)

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