MARAWI CITY —– The Armed Forces of the Philippines has sent an investigating team to Lanao del Sur to investigate two crashes involving UH-1 Huey helicopters during combat operations in Lanao del Sur against the Dawlah Islamiyah (DI) militants on Thursday and Friday. On Thursday afternoon, a PAF chopper was trying to airlift the wounded soldiers in the hinterlands of Madalum town when the pilot felt he had not enough powers to lift off.
On Friday morning, another PAF helicopter, trying to resume the medical evacuation crashed when it was attempting to take off.
The impact caused injuries to the pilot and a crew member who were immediately brought to “the best hospital” in Iligan City according to Ponio.
The three soldiers who were wounded in a Thursday operation were evacuated from Madalum through Army ambulance.
They were brought to a hospital in the 1st Division in Pulacan, Labangan, Zamboanga del Sur and are now in stable condition.
BGen. Jose Maria Cuerpo, commander of the 103rd Brigade said the soldiers were in pursuit of a group of 20 dissidents led by its Faharudin Hadji Satar alias Abu Bakar or Abu Zacaria.
Satar’s parents and three siblings surrendered to the Army few days before the accidents.
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