Philippines army struggles as city siege enters fourth week Military rejects IS claim it occupies 2/3 of Marawi
MARAWI CITY, Philippines: Fighting in Marawi City in the southern Philippines entered its fourth week yesterday with military officials conceding that troops were struggling to loosen the grip of Islamist fighters on downtown precincts despite relentless bombing. Military spokesman Brigadier General Restituto Padilla said the urban terrain was hampering the army’s progress because the rebels had hunkered down in built-up neighborhoods, many of them with civilians they had taken as human shields.
Hundreds of other civilians were still trapped in the ruins of the town and - facing capture, starvation or bombardment from above - several have braved sniper fire to dash across a bridge to safety. Some were shot dead, a few made it alive. Asked when the fighting would end, Padilla said: “I can’t give you an estimate because of compounding developments faced by ground commanders.”
The military had set Monday, the Philippines’ independence day, as a target date to flush out the militants, both local and foreign fighters who have pledged allegiance to Islamic State. Flags were raised at ceremony in the town on the insurgency-plagued island of Mindanao, but heavy gunfire resumed early on Tuesday, and the military continued to target the militants with mortars and helicopter-mounted machineguns.
President Rodrigo Duterte, who declared martial law in Mindanao on May 23 - hours after several hundred fighters overran parts of the town and tried to seal it off to create an Islamic caliphate - did not show at any independence day events. Duterte is best known for a brutal war on drugs since he took office a year ago, and he has suggested that funding for the Islamist militants came from the narcotics trade. Some media reports highlighted the absence of the president at a time of serious conflict, but a spokesman said he was tired and needed to rest.
The Philippines has been fighting twin insurgencies from Maoist-led rebels and Muslim separatists in the south for nearly 50 years. Critics say military action is not enough to bring peace to a region that has long suffered from political neglect and poverty.