By GENALYN D. KABILING, Francis T. Wakefield
There was no premature announcement of the liberation of Marawi City despite the ongoing military pursuit of the remaining stragglers in the war-torn area, a military official said on Friday.
Armed Forces spokesman Major Gen. Restituto Padilla Jr. said there were still “pockets of enemy presence” in Marawi City but these “leaderless” stragglers bear no impact on the overall security situation.
An arrested foreign terror suspect earlier claimed there were still 36 militants in the area but the military is still verifying such information, Padilla said.
“Not at all because the declaration of liberation was made when this had no more bearing. Those stragglers who were left, they are leaderless, they have no direction,” said Padilla during a Palace news conference.
Padilla said the military has “sealed off” around 19 barangays in Marawi that remain “a dangerous place” and prevented the return of the civilians for their safety.
“They are merely fighting for survival so they have no impact on the overall security of the place,” he added.
He said they want to apprehend these suspects so they could not escape and carry out any lone-wolf attack elsewhere.
“As you may have noted in the last few days, there have been a series of engagements that have occurred between our forces who continue to perform clearing operations,” he said.
Last October 17, President Duterte declared that Marawi City has been liberated from terrorist influence nearly five months after the Maute group attacked the area. The announcement came after the government troops killed terror leaders Isnilon Hapilon and Omar Maute.
Meantime, Colonel Romeo Brawner, the deputy commander of Joint Task Force Ranao said government troops are still scouring the main battle area in Marawi City in search for Malaysian terrorist Amin Baco alias Jihad, who is yet to be accounted for.
Baco, who is said to be an IED (improvised explosive device) expert, was thought to have been among 42 terrorist found dead following the final assault of the area but his body was not found.
“Hinahanap pa ang katawan niya,” Brawner said.
On Wednesday, two terrorists, one of them reportedly the trusted lieutenant of Hapilon, were killed by Army troops.