MANILA, June 18 (Xinhua) -- Government troops clashed with pro-Islamic State militants in Lanao del Sur province in southern Philippines, forcing more than 700 families to flee home, a military officer said on Monday.
Col. Romeo Brawner, deputy commander of the joint Task Force Ranao, said the clashes with the IS-linked Maute group broke out on Sunday in Guiarong, a village at the boundary of Tubaran and Pagayawan towns.
The firefight continued on Monday, with the military launching air strikes and artillery fire targeting Maute militant leader Owayda benito Morohomsar also known as Abu Dar with some 40 armed followers, Brawner said.
Brawner said Morohomsar, who succeeded Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon who was killed in Marawi City last year, is vying for the IS emir in Southeast Asia.
Hapilon and the Maute leaders led an estimated 1,000 terrorists who overran Marawi City in May last year, triggering a five-month siege that left more than 1,200 people dead and left the city in ruins.
Brawner said the ongoing military offensive against Morohomsar is part of a bigger military operation to hunt down the remaining terrorists that managed to escape Marawi after the city was liberated in October last year.
Morohomsar is the only remaining leader of the Maute-IS group, Brawner said, adding that the troops are verifying reports that five terrorists were killed in the offensive.