Military hopes to finish Marawi fighting in “next few weeks”

August 30, 2017

The military is hopeful to finish the rebellion in Marawi City in the “next few weeks”, an official said Wednesday.

In a television interview, Col. Romeo Brawner Jr, deputy commander of Joint Task Force Ranao,  emphasized the signs showing the battle against terrorists in Marawi is nearing its end.

"Well there are a lot of indicators that it will end soon. First of all is that the area where the members of Maute terrorist group operate is getting small and we believe they are already running out of ammunition and food," he said.

"That is why we believe that hopefully within the next few weeks the Marawi siege will be finished," Brawner added.

Brawner assured that the military is doing its operation carefully to prevent collateral damage as the terrorist group still have civilian hostages.

“As of now we see that they still have hostages but we believe that they are still alive and we are making sure that while we are doing our assault against Maute terrorist group, we will spare the lives of the hostages,” he said.

As the rebellion in Marawi reached its 100th day Wednesday, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) called for support for government troops who continued to fight for the liberation of the city.

“Today, the 30th of August 2017 marks the 100th day of the Battle for Marawi. The AFP calls upon all our citizens of all walks and whatever faith to continue to manifest their support for our troops and unceasingly pray for an early resolution of this conflict,” Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla, AFP spokesman said.

“Our troops are doing their best and working overtime to end hostilities with the hope of rescuing the remaining hostages and expediting the road to normalcy of the city of Marawi,” he said.

“We owe it to each and every peace loving Filipino to liberate Marawi at the soonest possible time from the clutches of the remaining terrorists who continue to defy our laws,” he added.

Capt. Jo-ann Petinglay, AFP Western Mindanao Command spokesperson, based on their latest record the number of government forces killed is now 133 while the enemy killed has reached to 617.  Robina Asido/DMS