Members of the Philippine Marines 1st Brigade conduct clearing operation at the main battle zone in Marawi in Lanao del Sur in the southern Philippines. JEOFFREY MAITEM
MARAWI CITY — The Philippines is preparing to declare the end of fighting in Marawi, which was seized for five months by pro-Islamic State (IS) rebels, a top military commander said on Saturday, as troops continued a phased withdrawal from the devastated lakeside city.
Only 20 insurgents remained in a small area in the Islamic city, including five “significant” figures and three battalions of troops were closing in on their positions, said Western Mindanao Command chief Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez.
“Most probably tomorrow, we can do it,” Galvez told reporters who asked when the military could declare the fighting was over. “We can declare it is totally complete.”
Galvez said troops were zeroing in on three sons of Isnilon Hapilon, the slain “emir” of IS in Southeast Asia, and two Malaysians, including Amin Baco, who has been central to facilitating the movement of foreign fighters in the region.
“We cannot say our mission is totally accomplished or completed if the five persons are still there,” he said, adding the remaining militants were “struggling to survive” and protecting their shrinking position.
Possible succession
Another general told Reuters news agency troops were also looking for a prominent Indonesian militant.
The military was concerned Hapilon’s sons and these foreign fighters could succeed the core leaders of the alliance killed this week.
Hapilon and Omar Maute were killed by commandos on Monday. Malaysian Mahmud Ahmad, who experts say may have funded the Marawi siege, was also dead, according to a freed hostage, but his body has yet to be found.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Saturday that DNA tests by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation had confirmed that one of the men killed was Hapilon.
The United States has provided technical support, including surveillance drones, to the Philippines, its treaty ally.
In Manila, presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said the pullout of troops from Marawi, which started on Friday, “does not signal the end of fighting between our troops and Maute terrorist-stragglers.”
Government forces would ensure Marawi’s security even after the deaths of Hapilon, Maute and Mahmud.
“While the enemy force has greatly diminished, we will continue to be alert and assure the residents of the city that we will not compromise its security with the presence of some units of the Armed Forces,” he said.
The deaths of the militant leaders could slow down any effort by IS to establish a presence in Mindanao, a vast island with a history of rebellion and home to the predominantly Roman Catholic nation’s Muslim minority.
Some experts see the siege as a prelude to a more ambitious bid by IS loyalists to exploit Mindanao’s poverty and use its jungles and mountains as a base to train, recruit and launch attacks in the region.
Galvez inspected troops in Marawi and sent off a battalion of Marines central to military operations. It was the second unit to leave the conflict area.
The military declined to divulge the number of troops remaining in Marawi. Elite commandos were leading the assault, with Army infantry battalions and police commandos securing safe areas.
Galvez said rehabilitation, including retrieval of the dead, would start after the end of hostilities is declared.
The Philippines estimates the rebuilding of areas battered by months of government airstrikes, which displaced hundreds of thousands of Marawi residents, could cost at least P50 billion ($971 million). —With reports from Leila B. Salaverria and the wire