ASG senior leader Hapilon now in Central Mindanao -- Lorenzana

From the Philippine News Agency (Jan 26): ASG senior leader Hapilon now in Central Mindanao -- Lorenzana

Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) senior leader Isnilon Hapilon managed to escape from his Basilan enclave and moved to Central Mindanao at the behest of the terror group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The move is to test whether Central Mindanao is conducive to the establishment of a "wilayat" or an Islamic State, Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Thursday,

Hapilon's breakout, with a small group of loyal followers, took place middle of December, he added.
 Lorenzana said Basilan and Jolo are too small and and they can be easily be trapped there, hence the ASG leader's decision to move out in Central Mindanao where he is now rallying Maute Group members to support ISIS.

As of this posting, Maute Group members are placed at around 100 armed fighters.

"We know he is there so we are conducting operations against them in Lanao Del Sur, near the Butig area, just beside Lake Lanao, we've have been there before with the President sometimes last November or December, so we continue to operate against the ASG," the DND chief added.

He said all of these information are from their intelligence sources.

As this develops, the Western Mindanao Command (WMC)'s 103rd Infantry Brigade under Col. Nixon Fortes scored another major breakthrough in its intensified campaign against the terror groups of ASG, Maute Group and foreign terror groups holed in Butig, Lanao Del Sur.

"The terror groups are reported to have sustained a major casualty with a number of them dead or seriously wounded after a midnight (between the 25th and 26th January 2017) surgical air strike and a well-directed and observed artillery rounds accurately landing in the identified locations of the terror groups," Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Col. Edgard Arevalo said.

As of this posting, ground troops have established foothold and begun their assault to the same objective of the preliminary attack midnight.

"They are now cautiously advancing to their designated objectives – the location of ASG leader Isnilon Hamilon, his select group, and the Brothers Abdullah, Omar, and Otto Maute, and possibly other foreigners joining their notorious group," he added.

"We will await the validated details of the results of this operation as soon as we get confirmations from our troops now on the ground," Arevalo said.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=958485