Government forces recovered more war materiel in Marawi City on Thursday, the military said Friday.

Capt. Jo-an Petinglay, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Western Mindanao Command spokesperson said combat divers of the naval special operations group and the Special Forces elite unit were conducting search and recovery operation in Lake Lanao at Barangay Marinaut, Marawi City when they recovered the war materiel.

“Seized were an M60 machine gun, two rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launchers, thirteen high explosive RPG rounds, and eighteen rifle grenades,” she said.

Last November 12, government forces also recovered 30 assorted high powered firearms from the lake.

“Earlier this week, soldiers were able to retrieve one cal .30 machine gun, one M16 rifle, one sniper rifle and one colt M4 rifle,” Petinglay said.

Leutenant General Carlito Galvez, Jr., Western Mindanao Command commander, lauded the soldiers for their latest accomplishment.

“I would like to commend our soldiers in Marawi for their unfaltering effort to ensure that every single war materiel is recovered even in the murky waters of the lake,” he said

“This mission is never easy especially that there is a possibility for these munitions to explode in the process. I am however confident that our combat divers are seasoned and well-experience for this task,” he added.

Brigadier General Roseller Murillo, Joint Task Force (JTF) Ranao commander, assures that the military forces will not stop its search and recovery operation until they have completely cleared the city.

“It has been 37 days since the liberation of Marawi, but our troops still recover armaments from the Main Battle Area which are believed to be from the members of the Daesh-inspired Maute terror group,” he said.

“Search and recovery operations will continue until we are certain that Marawi is totally cleared,”he added. Robina Asido/DMS