MANILA: Philippine troops have captured a key bridge leading to the main position of Daesh group-linked militants in the southern city of Marawi but won’t stage a major assault and will instead press efforts to rescue civilian hostages, an official said Monday.
Government troops gained control last week of Mapandi bridge, which leads to Marawi’s interior business district, where just 40 to 60 remaining militants are believed to be holding 80 to 100 hostages, mostly in a large mosque, said military spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla. But a major assault wasn’t imminent, he said.
“We now have direct access to ground zero,” Padilla said at a news conference in Manila, referring to the bridge over Marawi’s Agus River that can now be used to rapidly transport troops and combat supplies. “Our main objective is to rescue the hostages.”
President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered troops to ensure the safety of the hostages and not launch a massive assault that can endanger the captives even if that prolongs the militant siege, which has already dragged for more than two months. More than 650 people have died in the violence, including 45 civilians.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana expressed fears Monday that the militants, who have been using their hostages as human shields, may force some of the captives to serve as suicide bombers. “That’s one of the fears of our soldiers — they may let loose the civilians but force them to carry bombs,” Lorenzana told reporters.
Philippine troops capture key bridge near Marawi militants
Philippine troops capture key bridge near Marawi militants
Two killed in suicide attack targeting security forces in Pakistan’s northwest
ISLAMABAD: Two security personnel, including an officer, were killed, while multiple others sustained injuries when a suicide blast targeted their vehicle in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, a police official said.
The suicide bomber hit his explosive-laden motorbike into an armored vehicle of security forces in Sara Darga area of KP’s Bannu district, according to a local police official who requested anonymity.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Pakistani Taliban, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), have carried out similar assaults in the region in past.
“The attack had damaged the armored vehicle, causing deaths and injuries,” he told Arab News, adding that they suspected the Pakistani Taliban to be behind the attack.
Pakistan has struggled to contain a surge in militancy in KP, which borders Afghanistan, in recent years, with militant groups, particularly the TTP, frequently targeting security forces, law enforcers and government officials in the region.
Earlier this week, Pakistani Taliban militants rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a checkpoint jointly manned by security forces and law enforcement agencies in KP’s Bajaur district, killing 11 security personnel among 12 people, the Pakistani military’s media wing said.
Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of allowing the use of its soil and India of backing militant groups for cross-border attacks against Pakistan. Kabul and New Delhi deny this.
