Gov’t troops recover 30 firearms in Marawi main battle area

November 13, 2017

Government troops recovered 30 firearms during clearing operations at the battle area in Marawi City last Sunday, a military spokesman said Monday.

Capt. Jo-ann Petinglay, Armed Forces of the Philippines Western Mindanao Command spokesperson, said waterborne personnel of the different units were conducting search and clearing operations at the lake area fronting one of the buildings at Brgy Marinaut, Marawi City that served as the last stand of the terrorists when they recovered the firearms around 7 am.

Col. Romeo Brawner, deputy commander of Task Force Ranao, said the recovered firearms were believed to be owned by the terrorists who occupied the city.

“During the search, one of the members of the search teams saw one weapon as visible from the surface and dove down to get it, and the other groups participated in the search discovering the rest in succession,” he said.

“It is believed that the terrorist, during the last hours of the fire fight when they have smelled defeat and when they were about to make their final escape, threw their weapons into the lake,” Brawner added.

According to Brig. Gen. Roseller Murillo, commander of the 1st Infantry Division, the firearms recovered underwater were one cal. 50 machine gun; three M60 Machine guns; 12- M14 rifles; four cal .50 sniper rifles; two AK 47 rifles; two carbine rifles; three FAL rifles; one M79 rifle; and two M16 rifles.

“More search and clearing operations are underway. The recovered armaments are now in our custody while proper documentation and labelling are being undertaken by our troops,” he said.

Petinglay said four scuba divers were transported from the headquarters of Naval Forces Western Mindanao in Zamboanga City to Marawi City to help in the clearing operations.

Lieutenant General Carlito Galvez, Jr., Western Mindanao Command Chief mentioned the possibility that there could be other firearms hidden in the city.

“The likelihood that there could be more hidden armaments is very high. JTF Ranao is also conducting sustained security operations outside the former Main Battle Area in Marawi City to pursue other allied terrorist groups particularly towards southern portion of Lanao del Sur,” he said.

“We will include these newly recovered firearms to be destroyed and demilitarized scheduled later this month. We will be working for a gun-free as well as a drug-free Marawi,”he added. Robina Asido/DMS