31 Maute members killed in Marawi City — military

Thirty-one supposed members of the Maute group were killed since the start of the siege in Marawi City on Tuesday afternoon, a military official said on Thursday.

"As of this report, 31 were already neutralized and 6 HPFAs (high-powered firearms) were recovered by the troops," said Brig. Gen. Rolly Bautista, commander of 1st Infantry Division of the Philippine Army, in a press release.

"Our troops are doing deliberate operations in areas we believe are still occupied or infested with terrorist's presence. I specifically ordered our soldiers to locate and destroy these terrorists as soon as possible," he added.

Thirteen of the Maute Group members died around 9 a.m. as government troops cleared two bridges, said Capt. Jo-ann Petinglay, spokesperspn of the Western Mindanao Command.

She added that the soldiers engaged around 30 heavily-armed members of the group in a gunfight that lasted about two hours.

"Thirteen more terrorist were killed after two hours armed confrontation with the same troops. Three high powered firearms were also recovered from the encounter site," she said.

Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez, commander of the Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom), said six soldiers were killed while seven were wounded.

The fresh government casualties is in addition to the seven soldiers and two policemen killed and 31 soldiers and two policemen wounded earlier reported by authorities.

"They made the ultimate sacrifice that the city will be cleared from terror threat and immediately restore normalcy in this part of Mindanao," Galvez said.

"We will exhaust all efforts to crush the remaining Maute members so that the people of Marawi City can go back to their homes the soonest," Galvez added.

The military also reported the rescue of 16 civilians in Kilala village during clearing operations. They were trapped in the area where they hid at the height of the firefight between the military and the Maute Group. — BAP, GMA News