THE Marawi City siege, which began on May 23, may possibly end within the month, Col. Romeo Brawner, deputy commander of Joint Task Force Ranao told reporters.
“There is a big chance and we are hopeful but we are not setting a deadline. We see that our troops are really pushing the Maute group to a smaller area,” Brawner said.
The military official was quoted as saying by GMA News the Maute group was being holed up in mosques with between 40 and 60 hostages. His statement could not be immediately independently confirmed.
“They [the Maute members] are now runNing out of ammunition. They are running out of food, and this is manifested by their response to our assault. Pailan-ilan na lang ang kanilang putok,” Brawner addded.
The Mindanao State University, which is in the heart of the capital city, opened classes on Tuesday while troops secured the campus.
In related developments:
• Former Marawi Mayor Omar Solitario Ali and two of his sons will remain in the arrest orders issued by martial law administrator and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, after revoking temporary clearances seeking to disprove accusations he let terrorists into Marawi City, a senior Cabinet official said Tuesday.
Ali and two of his sons were given temporary clearances by Peace Process Secretary Jesus Dureza, intended to discuss with Lorenzana how he could help the government resolve the ongoing conflict in Marawi City.
Dureza, however, said Lorenzana “found basis for their being retained in the arrest list and ordered the cancellation of their temporary clearance.”
“Based on the vehement objections of the AFP, PNP and local leaders in Marawi and Lanao del Sur, I have recalled/cancelled the clearance I gave to Solitario and his two sons effective today. They are now subject to arrest,” Lorenzana said in a message to Dureza, which the latter shared in his statement.
• A group of child rights advocates lamented on Tuesday that Marawi, since May 23, still had tens of thousands of children suffering from disrupted education, dire living conditions and psychosocial distress.
Ned Olney, Save the Nation country director in the Philippines, said more than half of the 60,000 children who fled the city when fighting broke out between the Maute terror group and government forces have not reenrolled in school.
Many of those who returned to the classroom still cannot afford basic learning materials, like uniforms, books and other school supplies, he added.
“There are classes that have more than doubled in size to compensate for the surge of new arrivals, some with up to 100 students,” he noted.
The former Marawi mayor earlier accused by President Rodrigo Duterte of condoning the entry of Islamic State-inspired rebels in his city sought for clearance to “facilitate their planned meeting with Lorenzana and be allowed safe passage through martial law checkpoints.”
With this latest development, Ali will remain in the martial law arrest orders issued by the Defense Department last June 5.
Ali is one of the more than 150 government officials tagged by Duterte allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade.
Hours before the opening of classes Tuesday, an intense fighting between troops and the Maute group members erupted in nearby Marantao town.
Brawner said troops still have to clear 400 houses and buildings in Marawi.
Latest data from the military showed 129 troops have been killed in the conflict.
The number of slain Maute group members, meanwhile, has increased to 583 while the civilian death toll was still at 45.
Brawner, meanwhile, said they have intensified checkpoints around the city to prevent reinforcements for the remaining Maute group members from getting in.
He said they received reports of the movement of armed men in the nearby towns of Lumbatan and Saguiaran. With John Paolo Bencito and Rio Araja
