Army: 40 bombs still under Marawi

MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur, Philippines — The military said that about 40 unexploded bombs still needed to be recovered from underneath the rubble of this war-ravaged city, which was still being cleared of debris almost two years after it was freed from the hands of Islamic State (IS)-linked militants.

Lt. Col. Elmer Oamil, deputy commander of Joint Task Group Builder that oversees security of Marawi reconstruction, said that the bombs were dropped off from Air Force planes at the height of the offensives against the militants who laid siege to the city for five months.

The militants occupied heavily fortified buildings and structures from where they sniped soldiers aiming to flush them out of the city in close quarter combats.

28 bombs recovered

The airstrikes targeted these entrenched positions of the militants.

Oamil revealed that based on information provided by the Air Force, some 70 bombs were recorded to be unexploded. Some 28 of these were already recovered since debris clearing started last March under a private contractor.

Apart from bombs, the once urban war zone is also littered with unexploded grenades, mortar and artillery shells, and improvised explosive devices.

For purposes of debris clearing, the so-called most affected area of the city was divided into nine sectors. So far, six of these have already been declared free of unexploded ordnance.

Eric Ibañez, Marawi field manager of the National Housing Authority, said they would start clearing the remaining three sectors of bombs next month, hoping to complete it in two weeks.

Bombs slow debris clearing

Oamil said many of the remaining large bombs have already been located but it would take time to dig pits to expose parts of these for purposes of detonation.

On Saturday, Sept. 28, the military detonated a host of recovered bombs, such as a 110-pound bomb, hundreds of

M-203 grenades and two improvised explosive devices manufactured by the militants.

The detonation occurred at Barangay Marinaut around 10:30 a.m. The bombs and ordnance were placed in a pit and were blasted off together.

Oamil said the blasting off of bombs was part of the continuing effort to clear Marawi of unexploded ordnance so that debris clearing can go full-blast.