Mattis lauds Philippine troops for upholding rights in Marawi battle

manila — US Defence Secretary James Mattis on Wednesday praised the Philippine military for upholding human rights in a fivemonth battle against pro-Daesh group militants in a southern city.

Philippine defence chiefs on Monday declared the end of the nation’s longest urban war in Marawi, where troops have been battling to flush out militants who attacked the city in what authorities said was a bid to establish a Southeast Asian caliphate.

Mattis, who was in the Philippines to attend a regional security meeting, heaped praise on the military of America’s longtime ally and mutual defence partner. “I think

They (troops) had not one human rights allegation against them with any credibility, not one

James Mattis, US Defence Secretary

the most important thing is here’s an army that had to go in a fight like that, and they had not one human rights allegation against them with any credibility, not one,” Mattis told reporters.

“That’s really a statement about the Philippine military that they could set a human rights condition in the midst of that awful fight in the way they did,” he said on the sidelines of meetings in Clark, a northern Philippine city.

Hundreds of local and foreign gunmen who had pledged allegiance to Daesh rampaged through Marawi, the principal Islamic city in the mainly Catholic Philippines, on May 23. An ensuing US-backed military campaign claimed the lives of more than 1,100 people, displaced 400,000 residents and left large parts of the city in ruins.

President Rodrigo Duterte imposed martial law immediately after the fighting erupted, saying it was needed to contain Daesh influence spreading throughout the region.—