Philippine forces retake Marawi
TAIPEI • Philippine forces said Monday they had retaken control of Marawi, with only small pockets being held by the Islamist fighters who overran it last week.
More than 50,000 people fled the Muslim-majority city of 200,000 after it was besieged by militants affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, many of whom were described as teenagers.
That prompted President Rodrigo Duterte to declare martial law and send in the military. After unleashing attack helicopters and heavy artillery, Philippine forces said Monday they now controlled most of the city, with only small pockets being held by militants.
At least 19 civilians were among the almost 100 killed.
Evacuees described several of the Islamist fighters as young teenagers whose commanders were in their early twenties.
“They are just barely out of teenage life. And they take command from boys in their early to mid-twenties,” a government employee in her fifties called Norma told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
She said her decision to leave was sealed when she saw young militants demanding residents recite verses of the Qur’an. One young man was hauled out of the crowd and shot.
On Sunday, the bodies of eight civilians who had been shot dead were recovered from a ravine. Jamail Mangadang, a Marawi police officer, claimed they, too, had been killed when they could not quote the Qur’an.
Fears are rising for a priest and at least 12 of his congregation who were taken hostage last Tuesday. There has been no word of their fate, said Marawi Bishop Edwin dela Rosa.
Reports of Islamist cruelty were countered by the courage of Muslim residents who risked their lives to help Christian neighbours. About 40 Christians were shielded on the floors of Muslim homes for 36 hours while gunmen prowled outside, Oscar Nantes, director of police in the province of Lanao del Sur, told the Philippine Star.
Among others recounting terrifying escapes was a father who fled with his wife and children while she was in labour with their fourth child.
Said Usop, 51, told local news outlet Rappler that the family walked for hours in the rain, witnessing heavy gunfire and pleading with militants to allow them to pass. Despite her ordeal, his wife managed to give birth to a healthy baby boy when they reached a hospital on Friday night.
Duterte has faced strong criticism from opposition politicians and human rights groups, who view his decision to invoke martial law as creeping authoritarianism.
The beheading of a police chief in the municipality of Malabang, cited by Duterte as a reason for his measures, later turned out not to be true. “I’m still alive,” Senior Inspector Romeo Enriquez told local media in a phone call.