8-hour truce in Marawi to observe Eid’l Fitr ends with gunfire from Maute – military

June 25, 2017

The Philippine government's eight-hour humanitarian ceasefire to observe Eid'l Fitr or Feast of Ramadan on Sunday ended with gunfire, the military said. Joint Task Force Marawi spokesman Lt. Col. Jo-Ar Herrera said they have observed gunfire in the area where the Islamic State-linked Maute group was hiding. The eight-hour humanitarian pause was effective 6am to 2pm. "We observe some gunfire in the position of Maute," Herrera said in a television interview. He also said that around five civilians were rescued during the truce. Even if the ceasefire already ended, he said the government troops were still in defensive position to facilitate passage of trapped civilians inside the city. Herrera said they have gained ground as they cleared already less than a hundred buildings, which were previously occupied by the Maute. He added the militant group was still in control of the remaining four barangays in Marawi. Meanwhile, Malacanang said the declaration of an eight-hour humanitarian truce was a gesture from the government to show its respect to the Muslim faith and acknowledge the country's cultural diversity. "This humanitarian ceasefire on part of the military and the government underscores our solidarity with our Muslim brethren as they celebrate the end of Ramadan," Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a statement. Earlier in a press conference, Herrera said they were still validating reports that the Maute group killed a lot of their hostages, and that some were being used as human shield or manpower to collect bombs. "These are all the things that we're looking at because this is really a violation of rights of the hostages," he said. "These are all unverified because we want to collate evidence based on results. It is hard if we are only looking on one aspect of the report but these are all important information," he added. (Ella Dionisio/DMS)