MANILA: The battle to retake Marawi City is drawing to a close after months of intense fighting between government forces and the Daesh-inspired Maute group, the Philippine defense chief has said.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the military is closing in on Maute militants and has nearly eradicated them from the country’s only Islamic city.
The militants are now contained in a small geographical area, he said.
“That’s why I’ve been told by our ground commanders that (the battle to retake) Marawi is nearly over,” Lorenzana said.
The military has not set a deadline for an end to the battle, but assured that government troops are “doing their best” and that “only a little more patience” is required.
President Rodrigo Duterte earlier said that the Marawi conflict had dragged on because he opposed a plan to bomb mosques that were occupied by the enemy. Duterte reiterated this on Friday.
“Look, if you are a president, you have a lot of things to consider. One is that the battle of Marawi is a war against a group of people, terrorists; these are (Daesh) and the Mautes. It has never been an issue of religion,” Duterte stressed.
“If you bomb purposely to destroy, to force the surrender, you’d have inflicted the pain on all Muslims. Now remember, there are more than 2 million Filipinos working in the Middle East, most of them (in) Muslim states. You get my point?” he added.
“(If we bomb and destroy the mosques) we will not recover this, the love (of the Muslim people) … So I said look for another option,” Duterte continued, adding that he told the troops to crawl their way forward.
The president asked the troops to keep their calm and not be offended, adding: “Who doesn’t want this conflict to end? But there’s a larger picture at stake here.”
When asked if the government needs help from outside — particularly intelligence agencies of Malaysia and Indonesia and equipment from US, Australia, and Japan — the president said “it can help.”
With the Marawi conflict nearly over, Lorenzana said the construction of transitional shelter areas had started on Sept. 8.
A task force for the rehabilitation of Marawi also met on Sept. 13 to discuss the provision of water in the shelter areas.
Lorenzana said that more than $1 billion was required to rebuild the war-torn Islamic City.
A post-conflict assessment team went to Marawi last week, visiting areas already cleared by the military.
Foreign assistance for the relief and rehabilitation efforts in Marawi continues to pour in, including funds from Australia, the US, Japan, Thailand, China and the EU.
The Marawi crisis broke out on May 23 after a failed attempt to capture Isnilon Hapilon, leader of the Daesh-affiliated Abu Sayyaf group.
The armed conflict has so far resulted in the death of 670 Maute militants, 147 from the government side, and 47 civilians.
Battle of Marawi City in Philippines ‘nearly over’
Battle of Marawi City in Philippines ‘nearly over’
EU should consider forming combined military force: defense chief
- Kubilius floated creating a “powerful, standing ‘European military force’ of 100,000 troops” that could eventually replace US forces
- Trump has heightened fears among NATO allies over Washington’s reliability by insisting he wants to take over Greenland
BRUSSELS: EU countries should weigh whether to set up a combined military force that could eventually replace US troops in Europe, the bloc’s defense chief said Sunday.
EU defense commissioner Andrius Kubilius floated creating a “powerful, standing ‘European military force’ of 100,000 troops” as a possible option to better protect the continent.
“How will we replace the 100,000-strong American standing military force, which is the back-bone military force in Europe?” he asked in a speech in Sweden.
The suggestion comes as US President Donald Trump has heightened fears among NATO allies over Washington’s reliability by insisting he wants to take over Greenland.
Worries over Trump’s commitment to Europe have already spurred countries to step up efforts to bolster their militaries in the face of the threat posed by Russia.
Ideas about establishing a central European army have floated around for years but have largely failed to gain traction as nations are wary of relinquishing control over their militaries.
The US has pushed its European allies to increasingly take over responsibility for their own security, and raised the prospect it could shift forces from Europe to focus on China.
“In such times, we should not run away from the most pressing questions on our institutional defense readiness,” said Kubilius, a former Lithuanian prime minister.
In his speech Kubilius also advocated for the creation of a “European Security Council” of key powers — including potentially Britain — that could help the continent take decisions over its own defense quicker.
“The European Security Council could be composed of key permanent members, along with several rotational members,” he said.
“In total around 10-12 members, with the task to discuss the most important issues in defense.”
He said the first focus of such a body should be trying to change the dynamics in the war in Ukraine to ensure that Kyiv does not end up losing.
“We need to have a clear answer — how is the EU going to change that scenario?,” he said.
“This is the reason why we need to have a European Security Council now!“
