Philippines declares end to militant siege
The 5-month-long uprising in Marawi left 1,131 dead.
The CLARK, PHILIPPINES — Philippine government declared the end Monday to the militant siege of a southern city that lasted five months, left more than 1,100 people dead and sparked fears of the Islamic State group gaining a foothold in Southeast Asia.
Speaking at an annual meeting of the region’s defense ministers, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told reporters that 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 the Islamic State group would influence, fund and strengthen local militant groups as it was losing ground in Syria and Iraq. The defeat of the IS-linked uprising has been a relief to the region.
Still, the length of the siege and the difficulty the mili- tary had in stamping it out has raised questions about the preparedness of the Phil- ippines armed forces at a time when President Rodrigo Duterte has been suggesting his country could ditch longtime ally the United States.
The timing of the uprising was also disastrous, coming as the Philippines plays host this year to the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, along with the 10-nation bloc’s Asian and Western counterparts, including the United States and Australia. The two governments deployed surveil- lance aircraft and drones to help Filipino troops rout the Marawi militants.
Lorenzana focused on the final success Monday.
“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,” Lorenzana said.
He said the achievement shows how regional cooperation can contain the spread of terrorism.
Fighting terrorism is high on the agenda of the Southeast Asian defense ministers’ meeting at the Clark freeport north of Manila.
Hundreds of militants launched the siege May 23 in Marawi, a bastion of Islamic faith in the south of the largely Roman Catholic Philippines, by seizing the city’s central business district and outlying communities. They ransacked banks and shops, 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, and displaced hundreds of thousands of Marawi residents.