AFP: 89 terrorists killed in fighting

PARADE OF TANKS A column of tanks transported by the Philippine Navy gunship BRP Tarlac arrives in Iligan City
to support troops in Marawi City.—RICHEL UMEL

Government security forces have killed 89 terrorists during more than a week of fighting in Marawi City but the gunmen are still offering strong resistance with stolen weapons and ammunition, the military said on Wednesday.

Attack helicopters fired rockets repeatedly on Wednesday into the pockets of Marawi where gunmen from the Maute terror group were hiding among trapped residents, according to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) reporter who was following troops searching houses.

The clashes erupted on Tuesday last week when gunmen waving black flags of the Islamic State (IS) group rampaged through the mostly Muslim-populated city in response to a military raid on the hideout of Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon, who has a $5-million price on his head offered by the US government.

Hapilon, who had pledged allegiance to IS, escaped but he was believed to be still in Marawi, Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla, spokesperson for the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said on Wednesday.

The siege of Marawi prompted President Duterte to declare martial law in Mindanao for 60 days and suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus on the entire island during the period of military rule.

Death toll

Eighty-nine terrorists had been killed in the efforts to reclaim the city and find Hapilon, Padilla told reporters.

The count included 42 bodies recovered and 47 deaths confirmed by eyewitnesses.

The dead after more than a week of fighting include 19 civilians and 21 government forces.

Six policemen were “missing in action,” the Philippine National Police reported on Wednesday.

Troops have cleared almost 90 percent of Marawi and rescued 960 civilians, but many residents are trapped in the 10 percent of the city that the terrorists control, Padilla said.

Security forces will likely meet increasingly strong resistance there, he added.

Padilla said he did not know how many terrorists remained, but added that there had been chances for the group to take in new members.

“As in previous statements that we have released, the number may have [increased] … because they went to the jail to free [more than a] hundred prisoners. Quite a number of those are definitely with them already,” he said.

“And then other than that, there may have been other sympathizers from other areas who may have made their way into the area earlier [in the fighting] and maybe already in their ranks,” he added.

30 to 40 gunmen

Another military officer, Lt. Col. Jo-ar Herrera, spokesperson for the 1st Army Division, said 30 to 40 gunmen were fighting government troops in Banggolo, Rada Madaya and Saka Lidok villages.

Herrera said around 2,000 civilians remained trapped in those villages, but the military was trying to rescue them.

“There might still be around 30 to 40 [remaining gunmen] because the others are lying low, escaping, leaving their firearms behind and mixing with civilians. That’s what’s happening there,” he said.

Herrera’s estimate of cleared parts of the city was smaller than Padilla’s, placing it at 80 to 85 percent, including Basak Malutlut village, where the fighting started on Tuesday last week after the failed attempt by troops from the 103rd Brigade to arrest Hapilon.

He said the remaining terrorists had occupied vantage points in the three villages from where they could quickly spot approaching government forces.

“They are still fighting and are still using high-powered firearms. The battlefield is very dynamic so we don’t have a deadline [for the clearing operations],” he said.

The military on Wednesday deployed for the first time SF-260 close air support planes to back attack helicopters and ground troops looking to box terrorists into a downtown area.

Stolen weapons

Padilla said the Maute gunmen had kept up the fight with rifles and ammunition stolen from a police station, a prison and armored police vehicle.

“They were able to get an armored vehicle of the police. Inside, there is a supply of bullets,” Padilla said, adding that the ammunition was among the stolen items the gunmen were using to resist the forces being poured into the area.

The terrorists also reportedly looted a gun store in Basak Malutlut and another in Banggolo as they besieged the city last Tuesday.

Padilla said the terrorists opted for urban warfare because arms were available in the city and homes and shops provided ample supplies of food.

“Yes, indeed, there was planning involved,” he added.

The military has from the outset insisted it has control of the situation, but the slow pace of efforts to retake Marawi has prompted questions about its strategy.

That has been compounded by social media images of smiling fighters with assault rifles posing on the captured, US-made police combat vehicle, dressed in black and wearing headbands typical of IS.

Another picture showed a bearded man at the wheel of a police van flying an IS flag.

The authenticity of the images has not been independently verified and the military has urged the public not to spread “propaganda.”

Foreign fighters

As for reports of foreigners fighting alongside Maute terrorists, Padilla said there were indications that some of those killed in the fighting were not Filipinos.

The foreigners looked Asian, he said.

“With the amount of material that has been coming out and being recovered [from] the areas of conflict, there could be, in this collection of documents and other materials, proof that would indicate the existence of these foreign fighters,” he said.

Earlier operations in Mindanao have shown that eight to 12 foreigners have been helping armed groups on the island, he added.

Reuters, quoting a Philippine intelligence source, reported on Tuesday that as many as 40 of the terrorists who overran Marawi last week had recently arrived from overseas, including from countries in the Middle East.

The foreigners included Indonesians, Malaysians, at least one Pakistani, a Saudi Arabian, a Chechen, a Yemeni, an Indian, a Moroccan and one man with a Turkish passport, Reuters quoted the intelligence source as saying. —WITH REPORTS FROM THE WIRES