MANILA, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte confirmed on Monday that the Islamic State (IS) militants have indeed "connected" with a Philippine Islamic group based in the southern Philippines.
In a speech at the Malacanang presidential palace, Duterte said "the intelligence community advised me that ISIS has finally connected with the group in the Philippines called the Maute."
"There's a raging war now in Lanao (del Sur)," he added, referring to the ongoing military offensive against the Maute group that held Butig town in Lanao del Sur last Friday.
The military launched the offensive Saturday when members of the Maute group occupied the town hall, the public market and the school buildings in an apparent bid to gain control of the town.
Duterte has recently been warning about IS taking root in the Philippines.
Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla, a spokesman for the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said that at least 19 Islamic militants have been killed in the offensive that also wounded 13 soldiers.
A reporter of ABS-CBN who is covering the military operation reported on Monday that the military used fixed wing bombers and attack helicopters to try to flush out the rebels and gain control of the town. The reporter said that so far she has gathered that 35 rebels have been killed in the two-day offensive.
Padilla said the military has deployed more troops to the area "to help in the neutralization" of the Maute group.
The government said at least 16,000 residents have been displaced by the fighting.
Marine Col. Edgard Arevalo said in a statement Sunday that the lawless group "has long been professing their allegiance to a foreign terror group," referring to the ISIS.
"This is still part of the Maute Group's agenda in courting support and encouraging similar minded individuals to support ISIS," Arevalo said.
Maute group is an armed IS-influenced militant group composed of former Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels and allegedly some foreign fighters led by a certain Abdullah Maute, the alleged founder of Dawlah Islamic or Islamic State based in Lanao del Sur.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines blamed the Maute group for a series of bombings and robberies in the southern Philippines, including the Sept. 2 blast in Davao City that killed 15 and injured 70 others.
