MANILA: The Philippine military was unable to meet its Sept. 30 deadline to end the siege of Marawi, but it has vowed to intensify efforts to defeat the Daesh-backed Maute group and re-establish the government’s writ in the city.
The death toll in the last 132 days of fighting has reached 951, including 749 militants, 155 soldiers and policemen, and 47 civilians, said Col. Romeo Brawner Jr., deputy commander of the Joint Task Force Marawi.
President Rodrigo Duterte had expressed hope in September that the city would be liberated “by the end of the month.” This hope was shared by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.
Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom) chief Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr. said the offensive will be completed within the next two weeks, but sources on the ground told Arab News that this is unlikely.
Military officials said they believe Isnilon Hapilon, Daesh’s chief in the Philippines, is present on the main battleground along with Omar Maute, another key leader behind the Marawi siege.
“There are reports that the two terror leaders were wounded, but this is yet to be verified,” Col. Edgard Arevalo, the Armed Forces’ public affairs chief, told Arab News.
He said the crisis broke out on May 23 when militants engaged in a firefight with troops who had tried to serve an arrest warrant against Hapilon.
Official sources said foreign fighters entered Marawi under the guise of Tabligh (a convention of Muslim missionaries).
“There was a Tabligh convention a week or two prior to the incident. Being a religious activity, we aren’t inclined to impose restrictions... We have reason to believe that some of them used it as their cover to get into Marawi,” Arevalo said.
Marawi police chief Ebra Moxir, who is also an imam (Muslim prayer leader), told Arab News that thousands of people came for the Tabligh, but some of them “were in the city for something else.”
He said Maute leaders rented a house to stock munitions as fighters from Basilan, Sulu and Maguindanao areas came to Marawi.
At least 25 foreign fighters are believed to have come to the city to join Maute, of whom 15 have been killed in combat, said Arevalo.
Lorenzana said the foreign fighters included Indonesians, Malaysians, Saudis, Yemenis, Indians and Chechens.
Officials said Daesh was attracted to the island of Mindanao, where Marawi is located, as a place to relocate from Iraq and Syria due to the presence of local terrorist groups. Daesh is not gaining strength in the Philippines, the officials added.
“Hapilon is a recognized emir of Daesh (in the Philippines), so this is where they made an initial attempt to establish a wilayah, or province,” said Arevalo.
Brawner Jr. told Arab News that there are only 40-50 Maute fighters left, confined to a small area with nowhere to go.
“All possible escape routes have been sealed, guarded by government forces. Some of the remaining Maute fighters have sent surrender feelers,” he said.
Arevalo told Arab News: “We’ve strategically located our personnel in areas we deem as their most probable avenue of escape, which is Lake Lanao. We’re now closely guarding this area.”
He said the military’s biggest tactical and operational achievement has been to gather the militants and their leaders in one location.
The government is determined to get all Maute fighters in Marawi to “either surrender or die,” he added.
“We’re not expecting that it will spill over into Metro Manila or any other cities in the Philippines.”