‘Maute now putting up last stand’

Members of the Maute group are putting up their last stand as advancing government forces in Marawi City have cornered the terrorists, a military official disclosed yesterday.

The official, who refused to be identified, said the terrorists are determined to fight to the end.

“Our latest estimate, the enemies left are only around 60 but we believe they still have a number of sympathizers around. That is why we can’t say with finality that the fighting will end very soon,” he said.

He said the fighting is not as intense as the weeks after the Maute group attacked Marawi last May 23.

The defenses of the terrorists have started to weaken due to the sustained air strikes and ground bombardment of their positions.

The terrorists are now holed up in less than a square kilometer area in the city’s central business district.

An estimated 500 to 700 militants were initially involved in the fighting when the terrorists, led by Basilan-based Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon – the designated Islamic State emir in Southeast Asia – attacked Marawi City.

As of Wednesday, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) reported that the fighting had resulted in the death of 413 terrorists, 98 government troops and 45 civilians.

AFP chief Gen. Eduardo Año said that the progress of the military operations against the terrorists is proceeding as planned.

Troopers have launched air strikes and artillery barrages targeting well-fortified sniper positions and machine gun placements in high-rise buildings.

“We’ll have one final push to really break their line and finally clear the whole of Marawi,” Año said.

Despite continuing firefights between the military and Maute group, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana claimed yesterday that the situation in Marawi is now stabilizing.