Philippines declares end to five-month siege by IS militants

The Philippines government has declared the end of a militant siege in a southern city that has lasted five months, left more than 1,100 people dead and sparked fears of the Islamic State group gaining a foothold in south-east Asia.

Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said combat operations in Marawi were ending after troops recovered 42 bodies of the last group of militants.

“Those are the last group of stragglers of Mautes and they were caught in one building so there was a fire fight, so they were finished,” he said. “There are no more militants inside Marawi City.”

The siege had sparked fears that Islamic State would influence, fund and strengthen local militancies as it was losing ground in Syria and Iraq. The defeat of the Is-linked uprising and the deaths of its leaders have been a relief to the region.

“The Philippine security forces, aided by its government and the massive support of the Filipino people, have nipped the budding infrastructure and defeated terrorism in the Philippines,” Mr Lorenzana said.

He said the achievement shows how regional co-operation can contain the spread of terrorism. “In crushing thus far the most serious attempt to export violent extremism and radicalism in the Philippines and the region, we have contributed to preventing its spread in Asia.”

Fighting terrorism is high on the agenda of the Southeast Asian defence ministers’ meeting at the Clark freeport north of Manila. As the talks opened, the head of the Brunei delegation expressed condolences for the loss of lives in Marawi but congratulated the Philippines for being able to liberate the city.

Malaysia’s minister said the siege was a wake-up call for the region. “We have to be very careful. What happened in Marawi can happen anywhere,” defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein said.

Hundreds of militants, many waving Is-style black flags, launched the siege on 23 May in Marawi, a bastion of Islam in the south of the largely Roman Catholic Philippines, by seizing the lakeside city’s central business district and outlying communities. They ransacked banks and shops, including gun stores, looted houses and smashed statues in a Roman Catholic cathedral, according to the military.

The fighting has left at least 1,131 people dead, including 919 militants and 165 soldiers and police. At least 1,780 of the hostages seized by the militants, including a Roman Catholic priest, were rescued.

The final group of 20 captives were freed overnight, Army Colonel Romeo Brawner said at a news conference.