Civilian wounded as stray bullets rain on Marawi capitol

MANILA, Philippines – Stray bullets rained down again on the compound of the capitol in Marawi City on Thursday, June 22, wounding a local government employee. 

The capitol serves as the operations center of the Marawi Crisis Management Committee. Zia Alonto Adiong, the committee’s spokesman, said the incident happened just before 4 pm in front of the capitol building. 

One of the bullets hit the thigh of utility worker Ismail Saripada as he rushed toward the building for safety. He was immediately brought to a nearby hospital, said Adiong.

“Ang daming balang pumasok dito (There were a lot of stray bullets that got in here),” Adiong said.

Saripada is the second victim of a stray bullet in the capitol compound, considered to be a “safe zone” in Marawi City. 

CCTV shows moment stray bullets rained on Capitol in Marawi. A civilian was hit, shown here limping toward safety https://t.co/UWSWvjdYYz pic.twitter.com/xnVZ1pXeb4

— Carmela Fonbuena (@carmelafonbuena) June 22, 2017

On June 15, a stray bullet also hit foreign journalist Adam Harvey of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) while he was taking pictures of evacuees inside the compound. He was brought to a hospital in Manila to remove the bullet that was lodged in his neck.

The capitol is not the only object of terrorist harassment.  On June 9, a sniper bullet pierced through a wall of a mosque in the nearby brigade headquarters and killed a 14-year-old boy who was praying inside.

The latest incident happened as government clashes with homegrown terrorist groups marked their 4th week. The military said the enemies were contained in 4 out of the city’s 96 barangays.

The capitol and the nearby brigade headquarters are only about two kilometers away from the combat zone. The military said the capitol was in the “line of sight” of enemy snipers. – Rappler.com