'Suicidal' Maute members using shabu to stay alert at night —AFP spokesman

A military spokesperson on Saturday said members of the Islamic State-inspired Maute group are using drugs amid the ongoing clearing operations of government troops in the war-torn Marawi City.

"Ang aming findings, sa gabi ay gising sila (Maute members) at naka-alerto dahil hindi sila tatamaan ng antok dahil sa paggamit nila ng shabu," Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said in an interview on radio dzBB.

Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella earlier said that the illegal drugs found at the home of former Marawi City mayor Omar Solitario Ali will hopefully prove the link between illegal drugs and the ongoing attack by the Maute group.

Police found P10 million worth of shabu in one of Ali's homes, two to three kilometers from the combat zone, just days after another batch of suspected shabu worth P100 million was discovered from a Maute hideout.

Apart from being high on drugs, Padilla said members of the notorious group have become suicidal.

"Suicidal na po itong mga taong ito, talagang they will fight to the end 'yan ang amin pong assessment," he said.

"Hindi po magtatapos hangga't ang bawat armado po diyan ay nakuha na natin... kaya sinisikap natin na sila ay hanapin at kubkubin nang sa gayon ay unti-unting mapabilis ang pag-liberate sa Marawi," he added.

Padilla assured the public that the military is exerting all efforts to end the operations against the terrorist Maute group in Marawi.

"Ang pangyayaring 'yan ay maaring tumagal pa po ng kaunti at sisikapin natin na mapabilis ito sa madaling panahon," he said.

Nearly 200,000 residents of Marawi City have been displaced due to the ongoing conflict and more than 300 people, mostly members of the militant group, have been killed. —John Ted Cordero/ALG, GMA News