Eid truce in besieged Marawi ends abruptly
MARAWI: An eight-hour ceasefire in a Philippine city allowing residents to celebrate the end of Ramadan came to an abrupt end yesterday afternoon as the government continued its offensive against Islamist militants occupying parts of war-torn Marawi.
Assaults backed by air and artillery bombardment had stopped at the start of Islamic prayers at 6am but gunfire broke out as soon as the truce ended around 2pm, reporters in Marawi said.
Regional military commander Lt Gen Carlito Galvez said the truce also allowed five Muslim religious leaders to enter ground zero and negotiate with the militants to release civilian hostages, especially children, women and the elderly.
“It’s already been more than 30 days [of fighting] and we received reports that some of them have nothing to eat,” Lt Gen Galvez said.
The negotiators later yesterday emerged from the conflict zone with five civilians, incuding a mother and her 16-month-old daughter. The woman said she had given birth to another child just two weeks ago in the middle of the fighting but her infant boy died due to lack of food, according to police who interviewed her. A video released by the military showed the rescued residents looking terrified, pale and haggard.
Military chief Gen Eduardo Ano ordered his forces to observe a “humanitarian pause” during the Eid al-Fitr holiday in Marawi, the most important Muslim city in the mainly Catholic Philippines.
“We declare a lull in our current operations in the city on that day as a manifestation of our high respect to the Islamic faith,” Gen Ano said in a statement.
Much of the lakeside city is now in ruins while most of its 200,000 residents have fled to evacuation centres or to the homes of relatives and friends in other towns.
An emotional Sunday prayer was held away from the conflict zone in Marawi, with several Muslim worshippers breaking down, including the imam, television footages showed.
“This is the saddest Eid celeberation in recent memory,” Zia Alonto Adiong, a legislator for an autonomous Muslim region that covers Marawi, said in a Facebook post.
“It pains us to see families who can’t even share meals together, pray together,” he said, blaming the militants for the turmoil.
At Iligan just north of Marawi, evacuees dressed in colourful flowing robes marked the end of Ramadan by holding prayers on the grounds of city hall, with armed police commandos standing guard.
Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said yesterday a Philippine Navy ship was sent to Cotabato south of Marawi to bring supplies for soldiers and serve as a floating hospital for the wounded.
Military spokesman Brig Gen Restituto Padilla said around 500 civilians remained trapped where fighting is concentrated.