JETS, CHOPPERS RAIN ROCKETS ON MAUTE GROUP
MARAWI— Military jets and helicopters fired rockets at militant positions on Saturday as soldiers fought to retake control of a southern city from Maute and Abu Sayyaf gunmen linked to the Islamic State (IS) group, while civilians waved white flags from their windows to show they were not combatants, witnesses said.
The city of Marawi, home to some 200,000 people, has been under siege by Maute and Abu Sayyaf fighters since a failed raid on Tuesday night on a suspected hideout of Isnilon Hapilon, who is on Washington’s list of mostwanted terrorists with a bounty of $5 million for his capture.
The fighters loyal to him took over parts of the city, burning buildings and seizing about a dozen hostages, including a priest, whose condition has remained unknown.
The violence prompted President Duterte to declare martial law in the country’s south, where a Muslim rebellion has raged for decades.
“I saw two jets swoop down and fire at rebel positions repeatedly,” Alexander Mangundatu, a security guard, told The Associated Press in Marawi as a plume of black smoke billowed in the distance. “I pity the civilians and the women who were near the targeted area. They’re getting caught in the conflict and I hope this ends soon.”
Maj. Gen. Carlito Galvez, who heads the Western Mindanao Command, said the purpose of the airstrike was to restore full government control and ensure the terrorists are flushed out.
“The main purpose of the offensive is to suppress the lawlessness and to maintain normalcy in Marawi so that our people here, our countrymen, can return, especially by Ramadan,” he said, adding that the military would use its “maximum force.”
On Friday, President Duterte ordered his troops to crush the terrorists, warning that the country is at a grave risk of “contamination” by IS.
At least 44 people have died in the fighting, including 31 terrorists and 11 soldiers, officials say. It was not immediately clear whether civilians were among the dead. The violence has forced thousands of people to flee and has raised fears of growing extremism.
In Manila, presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella called for an end to the violence even as he said the government was open to talk to the gunmen.
“Together we pray for an end to terrorism that falsely claims to advance Islam and seeks to subjugate our land to the brutal IS,” Abella said. “In this spirit of Muslim peace, the President has offered the hand of peaceful dialogue to terrorist groups, to avoid bloodshed in this time of prayer, fasting and mercy.”
Mr. Duterte told soldiers in Iligan, a city near Marawi, that he had long feared that “contamination by IS” loomed in the country’s future, using the acronym for the Islamic State group. “You can say that IS is here already,” he said.
“You can arrest any person, search any house without warrant,” said Mr. Duterte, who has been criticized for the deaths of thousands of people in a crackdown on illegal drugs. Still, he also offered dialogue to terrorists who are not on the streets fighting.
“We can still talk about it,” Mr. Duterte said. “But those who are out-and-out terrorists, and you cannot be convinced to stop fighting, so be it. Let us fight.”
Hapilon, who is believed to have received $2 million from IS to fund his campaign here, is still hiding out in the city under the protection of gunmen who are desperately trying to find a way to “extricate” him, the country’s military chief said.
“Right now, he is still inside (Marawi). Wecannot just pinpoint the particular spot,” said Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff Gen. Eduardo Año, adding that Hapilon was believed to have suffered a stroke in January after being wounded in a government airstrike.
Año predicted that the military operation will take about a week as soldiers go house to house to clear the city of terrorists.
“We will make this their cemetery,” he said. “We have to finish this.”
The terrorists have control of some government buildings, including a jail, which they seized on Tuesday, leading to the escape of more than 100 prisoners, including some Maute members.
In a sign that the longstanding problem of militancy in the South could be expanding, Solicitor General Jose Calida earlier said foreigners were fighting alongside the gunmen in Marawi, including Indonesians and Malaysians.
Hapilon, an Islamic preacher, is a commander of the Abu Sayyaf militant group that pledged allegiance to IS in 2014. He also heads an alliance of at least 10 smaller militant groups, including the Maute, which have a heavy presence in Marawi and were instrumental in fighting off government forces in this week’s battles.