The government on Monday declared an end to fierce urban warfare in Marawi after troops killed the last pro-Islamic State (IS) terrorists who seized the city five months ago to establish an enclave of the Middle East-based jihadi group in Southeast Asia, INQUIRER.net reports.
“We now announce the termination of all combat operations in Marawi,” Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told reporters on the sidelines of the 11th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Defense Ministers Meeting in Clark Field, Pampanga province.
He said government troops prevailed in the battle for control of a building where the Maute and Abu Sayyaf terrorists made their last stand.
Troops recovered 42 bodies of the last group of terrorists, he said.
Gen. Eduardo Año, chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, also said 42 bodies were found — not in one but two buildings and a mosque.
The military said on Sunday that a last group of about 30 terrorists, their wives and five foreign fighters were making a last stand in a two-story building next to Lanao Lake and that troops were launching an assault to bring the fighting to an end.
The Associated Press reported on Monday that two security officials, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to make public the latest developments in Marawi, had disclosed that troops found the bodies after capturing the building.