AFP misses another deadline to end Marawi siege

 Military troops yesterday bombed Islamic State (IS)-inspired terrorists who have held out for over four months in Marawi City as the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said the conflict would be over “very soon.”

The army previously targeted yesterday as the day to end all the fighting that has already killed more than 1,000 people in the country’s southern city. Troops have missed previous deadlines to flush out the militants who intended to establish a local IS caliphate.

Yesterday, a number of FA-50 fighter jets flew over Marawi as soldiers fought the terrorists house-to-house in an area that has shrunk to about two hectares, a military spokesman said.

“We are hoping that we will end this Marawi siege very soon,” Col. Romeo Brawner, deputy commander of the task force battling the militants, told reporters.

Pro-IS gunmen occupied parts of Marawi, the Islamic capital of the mainly Catholic Philippines, last May 23. At least 822 militants, 162 government forces and 47 civilians have been killed since, according to Brawner.

The insurgents have withstood a relentless US-backed bombing campaign and intense ground battles with troops that have left large parts of Marawi resembling devastated cities in war-torn Syria and Iraq.

Military commanders last week set a target of Oct. 15 to end the fighting. Last Friday, President Duterte said the battle was “almost over.”

Twenty soldiers were wounded last Saturday in a sign that troops were pushing hard to end the battle, Brawner said.               

He added that at least 40 militants remained in the conflict area, including leaders Isnilon Hapilon, who is on America’s list of most wanted terrorists with a $5-million bounty, and Omarkhayam Maute, whose group had pledged allegiance to IS.