Meranao villagers displaced in latest Lanao Sur hostilities

LANAO DEL SUR --- Two Islamic militants were killed in a series of gunfights with pursuing soldiers on Sunday afternoon in Tubaran town in Lanao del Sur.The military operation was launched noontime Sunday after villagers reported the presence in a hinterland there of terrorists led by Abu Dar, the new leader of the Dawlah lslamiya, most known as the Maute terror group.Local residents, among them traditional Meranao community elders, said two followers of Abu Dar --- Arimudin Banser and Zaman Ukor --- were killed in the ensuing encounters.Army personnel who figured in the gunfights used artillery to flush Abu Dar and his followers out.Abu Dar, whose real name is Owaida Benito Marohomar, belong to a big Meranao clan in the second district of Lanao del Sur.The office of Lanao del Sur Gov. Soraya Adiong-Alonto dispatched on Sunday afternoon relief workers to help the local government unit of Tubaran attend to families that relocated away from the scenes of the encounters for fear of getting trapped in the crossfire.The Maute terror group is feared for its practice of abducting villagers to be used as human shields to prevent pursuing soldiers from getting close.Maute gunmen have also been reported in the past to have raped women they held captive.More than a thousand Meranao families were affected by the conflict, now in makeshift evacuation sites in safer areas.Reports reaching the governor’s office indicated that the tension caused by automatic bursts of gunfire and explosions spread fast through Barangays Wago, Guiarong Tubaran, Malaganding, Tubaran Proper, Madaya, Gaput, Dinaigan and Alog, causing panic among residents.Salma Jayne Tamano, chief information staff of the provincial government, said Monday they are now validating reports that dozens of families are still trapped in Barangays Padas and Diampaca, waiting to be evacuated by local officials and the military away from their villages.Emergency workers from the provincial government are now coordinating with the provincial police and the 103rdBrigade an evacuation plan.Lt. Gen. Arnel Dela Vega, commander of the Western Mindanao Command, said Monday morning their units will help in relief operations for the evacuees.Dela Vega said he is thankful to vigilant villagers who reported having seen Abu Dar and his men converging in an upland area in Tubaran, enabling security forces to hunt them down promptly.The local government unit of Binidayan town has accommodated 3,571 villagers from Tubaran, now in temporary relief facilities.Dela Vega said the Lanao del Sur provincial police and units of the 103rdBrigade are cooperating in addressing the security constraints now besetting Tubaran municipality.He said evacuees shall also be secured by soldiers from possible harassment by militants who may vent ire on them to retaliate for their losses in the Tubaran skirmishes.