Marawi Siege: Philippines Defense Minister Declares End of Fighting
Local Editor
The Philippines declared on Monday an end to five months of fierce urban warfare in a southern city held by pro-Daesh [the Arabic acronym for Takfiri ‘ISIS/ISIL' group] terrorists, a battle that marked the country's biggest security crisis in years.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said combat operations had been terminated, after troops prevailed in the last stand against gunmen who clung on inside several buildings in the heart of Marawi.
"There are no more militants in Marawi," he told reporters in Clark on the sidelines of a meeting of regional defense ministers.
Reuters journalists in Marawi City heard automatic gunfire and artillery throughout Monday morning.
Military spokesman, Major General Restituto Padilla, confirmed there was still gunfire in the city, but there were "no more terrorists" in Marawi. He did not elaborate.
Padilla said the troops tried to convince the remaining militants to surrender, but they refused.
The siege has stunned the Philippines and stoked wider concerns that Daesh loyalists have ambitions to make the Muslim areas of the island of Mindanao a base for operations in Southeast Asia.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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