Cops inspect 20 houses in Iligan to check Maute presence

Policemen in Iligan City went door to door to check if members of Maute groups who are possibly staying with their relatives.

Senior Superintendent Leony Roy Ga, director of the Iligan City police, said they inspected at least 20 houses from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Ga said the two-hour inspection turned out negative.

Iligan City is at least 37 kilometers or at least an hour ride from Marawi City, where the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said at least 300 more Maute group members are holed up.

The military said the Maute group are holed up in at least four villages in the city, which the militant group attacked on May 23 prompting President Rodrigo Duterte to declare martial law in Mindanao.

The AFP on Friday admitted that some Maute group members were able to slip through the military cordon around Marawi City.

It said a total of 310 people have died in the ongoing conflict, including 225 militants, 26 civilians and 59 government troopers. —ALG, GMA News