Gunfire rang out sporadically and explosions thudded as Philippine soldiers fought Tuesday to gain control of the last pocket of Marawi controlled by Islamic militants as President Rodrigo Duterte declared the southern city liberated from “terrorist influence.”
The military, boosted by the deaths of two key militant leaders in a gun battle the day before, hopes the current fighting is the final phase of defeating a dwindling band of fighters who are now trapped in an area the army says is about 2 hectares (5 acres).
Duterte visited the battle-scarred city on Tuesday where to cheers from troops he announced its liberation in a short speech from a stage at a ruined school campus about a kilometer from the fighting.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I hereby declare Marawi city liberated from the terrorist influence,” he said.
Military chief Gen. Eduardo Ano told The Associated Press that Duterte's statement means the threat from the militants, who've occupied parts of the lake-side city for five months, is substantially over.
“They're leaderless and they have no more organization,” he said. “There are still skirmishes.”
According to military spokesman Restituto Padilla, there are 20-30 militants left in Marawi, including six to eight foreign fighters. They have about 20 hostages, including women and children, he said.
Marawi, a mosque-studded center of Islamic faith in the predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines, has been devastated by five months of military attacks against the Islamic State group-allied militants who overran the city on May 23. More than 1,000 people have been killed, including about 800 militants.
Philippine flags hung on Tuesday from pockmarked buildings and houses, their roofs either blasted away or riddled with gunshot holes.
Soldiers stood guard in front of some buildings and at intersections where battle debris has been shoveled to the side.
The Philippine government on Monday confirmed an Associated Press report that two key figures behind the siege, Isnilon Hapilon, who is listed among the FBI's most-wanted terror suspects, and Omarkhayam Maute, were killed in a gun battle.
A top Malaysian militant, Mahmud bin Ahmad, who uses the nom de guerre Abu Handzalah and is a close associate of Hapilon, has not been found and was among the remaining militants being hunted by troops.
At a public hall converted into an evacuation center just outside Marawi, there was joy among evacuees at news of the two men's deaths and hopes of a return to some form of normality.
Evacuees chatted about the news and looked at Facebook posts showing pictures of the dead Hapilon and Maute.
“We're very happy because they have lost their leaders. I hope that all of them will be wiped out,” said Seima Munting, a 40-year-old mother of four who is among 750 people living at the hall in Balo-i township.
“My brother told me that finally we can return home, but when? When can we finally return home? What will we return to? Do we still have a house? Do we have jobs?” she said.
