Maute springs 107 inmates

LANAO DEL SUR – Maute gunmen set free 107 inmates in two jails they attacked late Tuesday amid gunfights in the streets of Marawi City.

The militants also snatched eight people as fighting ensued in Barangay Basak Malulut, scene of initial encounters between the Maute group and the Army’s 103rd Brigade.

Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) said Maute gunmen simultaneously stormed the Malabang District Jail and the Marawi City Jail at dusk Tuesday, disarmed the guards and freed a total of 107 inmates.

The militants also commandeered several vehicles, including a prison van and a fire truck of the Marantao fire station in their escape.

“They even took one government vehicle used in transporting detainees from the jail to the court,” Hataman said, referring to the prison van.

Hataman said he received a report from security officials in Marawi City that eight people were snatched by the militants as fighting spread through villages outside Barangay Basak Malulut.

The firefight between the militants and government troops spilled over to seven villages in Marawi City by dawn yesterday.

“We already have the names of the people the Maute terrorists abducted but we have to keep their names in the meantime,” Hataman said.

Hataman confirmed the militants burned a church and the Dansalan College in Marawi City.

A relief contingent led by ARMM Vice Gov. Haroun AlRashid Lucman was deployed to attend to the needs of residents affected by the hostilities.

Lucman said thousands of residents in Marawi have evacuated to nearby Iligan City.