Palace denies US involvement in Mamasapano operation

MANILA, Philippines - The Malacañang Palace denied claims that United States (US) troops were involved in the operation of Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) at Mamasapano, Maguindanao last week.

In an interview with radio dzMM on Sunday, Presidential Communications Secretary Sonny Coloma cleared that the country did not ask for help regarding the operation against Malaysian bomb maker Zulkifli "Marwam" Abdhir.

"Ito po ay operasyon ng Republika ng Pilipinas at ng mga law enforcement at armed forces po natin," Coloma said.

There were reports that US drones were seen in the area and that US choppers were used to recover the remains of police commandos.

"Iba pong bahagi 'yan, retrieval na 'yan pero 'yun pong mismong operasyon na 'yun, 'yung pag-execute po nun, wala po tayong hiniling na tulong diyan. Ang atin pong PNP-SAF ang nagsagawa po ng operation na 'yan," Coloma added.

A total of 44 PNP-SAF members were killed during a bloody encounter with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters last week.

The police are waiting for DNA test results to confirm if Marwan was killed during the encounter.

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