Soldier in Butig clashes found beheaded –military

One of the six soldiers killed in the operations against a new terrorist group in Butig, Lanao del Sur, has been beheaded, a military spokesman said Wednesday.

Condemning the act as a "very serious war crime," Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla, the Armed Forces spokesman, said the soldier was killed last week but the body was not immediately recovered.

"This is a very serious war crime and it is a brutal act," Padilla said. "This proves our point that these are terrorists."

He was referring to the Maute group, a virtually unknown band of armed men that the military has branded as terrorists for having links with Southeast Asian regional terrorist network Jemaah Islamiyah.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said the group are mere civilians who were frustrated by the non-passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law in Congress.

Padilla said the military is documenting the beheading of the soldier "so we can file the appropriate complaint against this group." He did not say where they intend to file the complaint.

"We are carefully documenting this war crime," he said.

Padilla did not identify the beheaded soldier but said the victim was an enlisted personnel detailed with the Army's 51st Infantry Battalion.

He said 24 members of the Maute group were killed in the series of clashes that started last week. The military was able to overrun the Maute' group's camp. —KBK, GMA News