Philippine security forces killed 10 suspected Islamist militants during a violent confrontation that erupted while attempting to execute arrest warrants, police said on Friday, April 17, 2026.
The confirmation was issued in a police statement released early Friday following the operation in the country’s predominantly Muslim southern region, where remnants of Islamic State-linked groups remain active.
Among those killed was Amerol Mangoranca, identified as the leader of the Maute-Dawlah Islamiya group, according to a regional police report. Security operatives had moved into an area near the town of Marantao before dawn to arrest Mangoranca and his associates over allegations of murder, homicide, and kidnapping.
The operation escalated into an hour-long gun battle after the suspects resisted arrest. Authorities said those involved in the clash included Mangoranca’s wife and three other women.
In a separate statement issued by the military later on Friday, officials confirmed that an infant was rescued unharmed from the scene.
No casualties were recorded among government forces, who also recovered firearms and explosive materials from the militants.
The group is believed to have carried out a January attack that left four soldiers dead and another injured, according to the Philippine Army’s First Infantry Division.
Major-General Yegor Barroquillo, commander of the unit, said the slain militants were part of the same network linked to the 2017 Marawi siege and years of insurgent violence in the region.
In May 2017, hundreds of Islamist fighters, including foreign militants, seized control of the city of Marawi in a bid to establish a Southeast Asian caliphate. The five-month siege ended after a large-scale military offensive, leaving more than 1,000 people dead and the city largely destroyed.
AFP
