MARAWI: The Philippine military said Sunday it had captured the command center of Daesh group supporters who have besieged a southern city for nearly four months.
Security forces have engaged in ferocious street-to-street combat and launched airstrikes in their efforts to expel the fighters from Marawi, in a battle that has left 800 dead and raised fears that Daesh is looking to establish a Southeast Asian base in the Philippines.
The military said it had captured the militants’ control center in a deadly operation that began Saturday against a mosque and another building.
“This enormous (military) gain further weakened the terrorist group by denying them their erstwhile command and control hub,” military chief General Eduardo Ano said in a statement.
“As follow up and clearing operations continue, we expect the enemy to yield more previously occupied positions, but not without a fight,” he said. “We are ready for that.”
Col. Romeo Brawner, deputy commander of the task force battling the militants, said the military had encountered some of the heaviest resistance in recovering the mosque.
Its capture may be a sign that the prolonged fighting with the Maute militant group, whose leaders have pledged allegiance to Daesh, may be nearing a conclusion, he said.
“We believe we are close to the end. The area where the Maute terrorist group can move is shrinking. We noticed that their resistance is weakening,” Brawner told AFP.
“They are retreating while we are assaulting but in the process of doing so, we are encountering many improvised explosive devices so we cannot just advance. We have to be very careful,” he said.
One soldier was killed and seven others were wounded in the battle, he said.
Brawner said they had hoped to rescue numerous civilian hostages when they captured the mosque but they found no one.
In the once-bustling city, gunfire could still be heard ringing out in the distance as troops backed by armored vehicles, pressed toward militant positions.
The rubble-strewn streets of Marawi were practically empty except for scores of heavily armed soldiers securing the area. Philippine aircraft and an American P-3 Orion spyplane flew above the city.
Hundreds of armed extremists flying the black flag of the Daesh movement in the Middle East occupied Marawi, the Islamic capital of the mainly Catholic Philippines, on May 23.
The government said 666 militants, at least 147 government troops and 47 civilians have since been killed in the battle, which has forced thousands to flee their homes.
Brawner said the ringleaders of the siege are still believed to be inside Marawi, adding that the military was determined to hunt them down.
“We do not want this to happen again in any other city in the Philippines,” he said.
President Rodrigo Duterte has deployed thousands of troops and imposed martial law across the southern third of the country to deal with the crisis.
Philippine army captures key pro-Daesh base in besieged city
Philippine army captures key pro-Daesh base in besieged city
Indonesia will ‘quit peace board unless Palestinians benefit’
- President Prabowo says Jakarta’s joining of the board is aimed at achieving stability in Gaza
JAKARTA: Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto will quit US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace if it does not benefit Palestinians, a government statement said, as the country’s involvement faces scrutiny following the US-Israeli war on Iran.
The former general has come under mounting criticism from Muslim groups for his decision to join the board.
Prabowo told leaders of local Muslim groups this week that Indonesia’s membership of the Board of Peace aimed to achieve a lasting peace in Gaza, according to a statement by the government communication agency on Friday.
HIGHLIGHTS
• In a statement this month, the Indonesian Ulema Council, urged the Indonesian government to withdraw its membership from the board, calling it ‘ineffective in realizing true peace in Palestine.’
• President Prabowo attended the inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace in Washington last month, and pledged to send 8,000 troops to Gaza under the International Stabilization Force.
But he added that the country would withdraw from the board if it does not bring benefits to Palestinians or align with Indonesia’s national interests, a statement quoted Hanif Alatas, member of a Muslim group, as saying.
“The President said that if he sees that there is no longer any benefit for Palestine ... and it is not in line with Indonesia’s national interest, then he will withdraw,” Hanif said.
In a statement this month, the country’s top clerical body, the Indonesian Ulema Council, urged the Indonesian government to withdraw its membership from the board, calling it “ineffective in realizing true peace in Palestine.”
Prabowo attended the inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace in Washington last month, and pledged to send 8,000 troops to Gaza under the International Stabilization Force.
Separately, the WHO has said that medical supplies in Gaza are running critically low despite Israel’s reopening of a key crossing this week.
Supplies of some items such as gauze and needles have already run out, said WHO’s regional director Hanan Balkhy, citing information from the Health Ministry in Gaza.
“Stocks of essential medicines, trauma supplies and surgical consumables are critically low, and fuel shortages continue to limit hospital operations,” she said.
“The situation is difficult, and we will be running out of whatever is remaining.” On Tuesday, the Israeli military agency that controls access to Gaza said it had reopened the Kerem Shalom border crossing “for the gradual entry of humanitarian aid.” It had closed entry points earlier
citing missile threats from Iran amid an escalating air war after Israeli and US forces attacked Iran on Saturday.
The Rafah crossing into Egypt, the main exit point for most people in Gaza, has remained shut and medical evacuations suspended, WHO said.
Some 18,000 people, including injured children and people with chronic diseases, are awaiting evacuation, according to the UN agency.
Balkhy said that it was able to import some medical supplies and fuel on Tuesday and Wednesday, but that some trucks remain on standby in Al-Arish, Egypt.
“We’re talking about … maximum 200 out of 600 daily trucks that need to go in are going in so that is really not enough to support the needs in Gaza,” she said. She called for more fuel to be allowed to enter to run hospitals.
Half of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are still shut after the Israel-Hamas war ended in a shaky ceasefire last October and the ones that are open are struggling to sustain critical services such as surgery, dialysis and intensive care, she said.
Separately, the fishing industry in the enclave has been largely destroyed as a result of Israel’s war with Hamas, worsening the food security crisis.
The industry had once been a critical source of food, income and affordable protein for the people of Gaza.
According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, fishing activity in Gaza now stands at less than 10 percent of prewar levels following the widespread destruction of boats, ports and equipment, combined with prolonged maritime closures enforced under Israel’s naval blockade.
UN and human rights organizations estimate that up to 72 percent of Gaza’s fishing fleet has been damaged or destroyed, alongside near-total devastation of related infrastructure, including landing sites, storage facilities and repair workshops.
The remaining vessels are small, damaged skiffs capable of operating only meters from shore.
