OZAMIZ CITY—Muslim extremists carrying Islamic State group insignia stormed the Lanao del Sur provincial jail Saturday, freeing 28 detainees in the latest in a series of mass escapes.
About 50 heavily armed members of the Maute group raided the local jail in the southern city of Marawi on Saturday, freeing eight comrades who had been arrested barely a week ago, police said.
Twenty other detainees, held for other offenses, also escaped in the raid, provincial police chief Senior Supt. Agustine Tello said.
The freed members of the Maute group were arrested on Aug. 22 after soldiers manning an army checkpoint found improvised bombs and pistols in the van they were driving.
The Maute group is one of several Muslim gangs in Mindanao.
The group has carried out kidnappings and bombings and is believed to have led an attack on an army outpost in the Mindanao town of Butig in February.
The fighting there lasted a week, leaving numerous fatalities and forcing tens of thousands to flee their homes as helicopter gunships fought off the attackers.
The gunmen attacking the jail Saturday were seen carrying black flags of the Islamic State group, and bandanas bearing the jihadists’
insignia were later found in their base, the military said.
Authorities said they were investigating why the jail’s guards did not resist the raid or why security had not been increased after high-risk suspects were brought in.
Marawi City Chief Insp. Parson Asadil said the armed men freed their leader, Hashim Balwawag Maute, who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. The men were well armed, he added, and even carried rocket propelled grenades during their assault on the provincial jail.
“Clearly this is a rescue operation aimed at freeing their members,” Asadil said of the Maute group.
On Aug. 22, a joint Army-Philippine National Police checkpoint in Lumbayanague town in Lanao del Sur arrested eight men, including Hashim Balawag Maute, leader of the Maute group, Abdul Jabbar Tominaman Macabading, Jamil Batoa Amerul, Muhammad Sianodin Mulok and Omar Khalil, who were reportedly involved in various terrorist activities in Lanao del Sur.
The jailbreak is just the latest mass escape from poorly secured jails, with the incidents often involving Muslim extremists.
In 2009, more than 100 armed men raided a jail in the strife-torn southern island of Basilan, freeing 31 prisoners, including several Muslim guerrillas. With AFP