Marawi siege to end in less than a month — AFP

The Marawi siege, which stretched for four months now, may end in less than a month, the military said on Monday.

“It won’t take any more a month. It will take days na lang siguro or weeks,”  Western Mindanao Command commanding general Maj. Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr. said in a press briefing in Marawi.

“Hindi lang namin ma-specify kung 10 days or maybe two weeks. Yung sinabi namin last time na more or less two or three weeks, most probably yun ang timeline natin,” he added.

The military general said they are focusing on the rescue of the remaining of 45 to 50 hostages held by the Maute terrorists.

“Kaya yung aming operation is still very slow but sure na at least yung mga hostages will not be collaterals,” Galvez said.

He declined to give details how the other hostages were rescued as it might jeopardize the ongoing operations.

All the strategic areas of the terrorists have been recovered by the military, Galvez said, referring to the Raya Madaya Bridge, Bayabao Bridge and the Bato Mosque.

“Nakikita natin maganda yung operational push, considering that all strategic areas have been recovered already,” he said.

Fighting between government forces and the Islamic State-linked Maute terrorists broke out on May 23, which has left an estimated 800 dead and hundreds of thousands displaced.