February 2016 Butig clash

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February 2016 Butig clash
Part of the Moro conflict
Ph locator lanao del sur butig.png
Date20 February – 1 March 2016
Location Butig, Lanao del Sur, Philippines
7°41′45″N124°17′52″E / 7.6957°N 124.2977°E / 7.6957; 124.2977 Coordinates: 7°41′45″N124°17′52″E / 7.6957°N 124.2977°E / 7.6957; 124.2977
Status Decisive Philippine victory [1]
Belligerents
Flag of the Philippines.svg Philippines

AQMI Flag asymmetric.svg Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

Commanders and leaders
Flag of the Philippine Army.svg Roseller Murillo
Flag of the Philippine Army.svg Gerrardo Barrientos Jr.
Flag of the Philippines.svg Ibrahim Macadato		AQMI Flag asymmetric.svg Omar Maute
AQMI Flag asymmetric.svg Abdullah Maute
Units involved

Flag of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.svg Armed Forces of the Philippines

Unknown
Strength
≈2,000 soldiers 40+ militants
Casualties and losses
5 killed
7 wounded [2] 		55 killed [3]
30,000+ displaced [4]

The February 2016 Butig clash was an armed conflict that began on 20 February 2016 between the Philippine Army and a group of Moro insurgent sympathizers of ISIS and Jemaah Islamiyah led by the Maute group in Butig, Lanao del Sur, Philippines. Three Philippine Army soldiers were killed in action, 11 wounded, and 20 terrorists killed in the early phase of battle. 335 families fled to Marawi City and 657 families took refuge in Masiu. [5] [6]

Philippine Army ground warfare branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines

The Philippine Army is the main, oldest and largest branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) responsible for ground warfare. The Commanding General of the Philippine Army, its professional and overall head, is Lieutenant General Macairog S. Alberto, who took office on October 15, 2018. Its main headquarters is located at Fort Bonifacio, Metro Manila.

Moro people ethnic group

The collective term Bangsamoro people or Moro people refers to the 13 Islamized ethnolinguistic groups of Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan. As Muslim-majority ethnic groups, they form largest non-Christian majority population in the country, and comprise about 5% of the total Philippine population, or 5 million people. Most Moros are followers of Sunni Islam of the Shafi'i madh'hab.

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Salafi jihadist terrorist and militant group

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, officially as the Islamic State (IS) and by its Arabic language acronym Daesh, is a Salafi jihadist militant group and former unrecognised proto-state that follows a fundamentalist, Salafi doctrine of Sunni Islam. ISIL gained global prominence in early 2014 when it drove Iraqi government forces out of key cities in its Western Iraq offensive, followed by its capture of Mosul and the Sinjar massacre.

Contents

Background

The Butig clashes began when a supposed "foreign and local terrorist organization" (FLTO), led by the Maute brothers, harassed the 51st Infantry Battalion, which had been manning a patrol base in Barangay Bayabao on February 20, 2016. [6] Armored personnel carriers and troops were sent to Butig, while the military used two 520MG Defender helicopters to track down the armed men and conducted air strikes against them. [6]

McDonnell Douglas MD 500 Defender Light utility and scout helicopter

The McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems MD 500 Defender is a light multi-role military helicopter based on the MD 500 light utility helicopter and OH-6 Cayuse Light Observation Helicopter.

A lull in the fighting occurred that evening, but resumed at dawn the next. [7] According to Armed Forces of the Philippines sources, the skirmishes between Army forces and the Maute group turned into a full blown military offensive with troops using artillery, gunships, and armored personnel carriers against the terrorists. [8]

Armed Forces of the Philippines combined military forces of the Philippines

The Armed Forces of the Philippines are the military forces of the Philippines. It consists of the three main service branches; the Army, the Navy and the Air Force. The President of the Philippines is the Commander-in-Chief of the AFP and forms military policy with the Department of National Defense, an executive department acting as the principal organ by which military policy is carried out, while the Chief of Staff is the overall commander and the highest-ranking officer in the AFP. A previous attached branch is the defunct Philippine Constabulary, while the Philippine Coast Guard is a wartime attached service. Military service is entirely voluntary.

An offensive is a military operation that seeks through aggressive projection of armed force to occupy territory, gain an objective or achieve some larger strategic, operational, or tactical goal. Another term for an offensive often used by the media is 'invasion', or the more general 'attack'.

Artillery class of weapons which fires munitions beyond the range and power of personal weapons

Artillery is a class of heavy military weapons built to fire munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry's small arms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls, and fortifications during sieges, and led to heavy, fairly immobile siege engines. As technology improved, lighter, more mobile field artillery cannons developed for battlefield use. This development continues today; modern self-propelled artillery vehicles are highly mobile weapons of great versatility providing the large share of an army's total firepower.

The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Office of Civil Defense stated that approximately 2000 individuals evacuated their homes to avoid getting caught in the crossfire. [9] According to Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla, three soldiers were killed and six others were wounded in the sporadic firefights. [9]

Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao former autonomous region of the Philippines

The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao was an autonomous region of the Philippines, located in the Mindanao island group of the Philippines, that consisted of five predominantly Muslim provinces: Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi. It was the only region that had its own government. The region's de facto seat of government was Cotabato City, although this self-governing city was outside its jurisdiction.

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Army hoist PH flag in Butig after 10-day firefight
  2. ↑ 5 soldiers killed, 7 injured in Lanao clashes
  3. ↑ MILF using clashes to push draft law
  4. ↑ Gomez, Jim (1 March 2016). "Philippine assault seizes terrorist lair, kills 24 militants". The San Diego Tribune.
  5. ↑ "3 soldiers killed, 11 hurt in Lanao del Sur clash". philstar.com. Retrieved 2016-02-27.
  6. 1 2 3 Umel, Richel. "Army reports killing 20 'terrorists' in clashes with Lanao Sur armed group". globalnation.inquirer.net. Retrieved 2016-02-27.
  7. ↑ "Lanao del Sur clash kills 5, wounds 1". SunStar Cagayan de Oro. 21 Feb 2016. Retrieved 29 Feb 2016.
  8. ↑ "Terror ringleader killed in Lanao del Sur skirmish". Manila Bulletin. 24 Feb 2016. Retrieved 1 Mar 2016.
  9. 1 2 "Thousands displaced by ongoing firefight in Lanao del Sur". CNN Philippines. 23 Feb 2016. Retrieved 29 Feb 2016.
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