MARAWI // Philippine authorities on Tuesday warned militants occupying parts of a southern city to surrender or die, as attack helicopters pounded the gunmen’s strongholds where up to 2,000 residents were feared trapped.
More than 100 people have been confirmed killed in the conflict, which began last week when gunmen waving the black flags of ISIL rampaged through the mostly Muslim-populated city of Marawi.
President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law across the entire southern region of Mindanao, home to roughly 20 million people, in response to the crisis as he warned that local militant groups were uniting behind ISIL and becoming a major security threat.
But the militants, initially estimated by the nation’s defence chief to number just 100, withstood eight days of intense air assaults and street-to-street combat, prompting the government’s threats on Tuesday.
“We call on the remaining terrorists to surrender while there is an opportunity,” military spokesman Brigadier-General Restituto Padilla said. “For the terrorists, not surrendering will mean their sure death.” The call to surrender was aimed at limiting the loss of more lives and property, he added.
The International Committee of the Red Cross is concerned that up to 2,000 residents trapped in areas held by the militants could be caught in crossfire or bombing raids.
“The risks and the vulnerabilities of the people inside Marawi are rising every day,” said ICRC spokeswoman Lany Dela Cruz.
The militants also took a Catholic priest and up to 14 other people hostage at the start of the crisis.
In a video that appeared on social media on Tuesday, Father Teresito Suganob said he was being held with “about 200 carpenters, household helpers, children and youth, and ordinary Christian settlers”, in what appeared to be a battle-scarred part of Marawi, and repeated his captors’ demands for the military to withdraw. Seven teachers, two female church workers and a professor from Mindanao State University are also among the captives, he said.
“We want to live another day, we want to live another month,” Father Suganob said, standing in front of debris and partly burnt buildings. Directing his remarks to Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, he said, “We want to live a few years and in your generosity, Mr. President, in your heart, we know you can make something (happen).”
The bishop of Marawi, Edwin de la Pena confirmed it was Suganob in the video.
“It was taken in Marawi and it was him, and the emotions that came out I think were really authentic,” he said. “I was glad to see that he is alive but we were also saddened because the fact that the terrorists are ready to negotiate means they are pressed against the wall and they are also desirous to get away from the situation and their bargaining chip are the hostages.”
It was not clear when the video was taken or who released it online, but it appeared to have been made under duress.
Clashes on Tuesday appeared to be as intense as previous days, with militant snipers firing from buildings and military helicopters firing rockets. The militants had killed at least 19 civilians, while 20 security forces and 65 gunmen had died, according to the military.
The violence began when dozens of gunmen went on a rampage in response to an attempt by security forces to arrest Isnilon Hapilon, a veteran Filipino militant regarded as the local leader of ISIL.
Hapilon, a senior member of the Abu Sayyaf kidnap-for-ransom gang, is on the US government’s list of most-wanted terrorists. He was being protected in Marawi by the local Maute group, which has pledged allegiance to ISIL. Authorities said the gunmen were backed by foreign fighters, including Malaysians, Indonesians and Singaporeans.
Armed forces chief General Eduardo Ano said Hapilon, the Maute and other militants had been planning a major attack on Marawi, one of the few Islamic cities in the mainly Catholic Philippines with a population of 200,000 people. The assault was originally planned for the start of Ramadan but the raid on Hapilon provoked them into attacking earlier.
A Muslim separatist rebellion in the southern Philippines has claimed more than 120,000 lives since the 1970s. The main Muslim rebel groups have signed accords with the government aimed at forging a final peace, giving up their separatist ambitions in return for autonomy. The Maute, the Abu Sayyaf and other hardline groups have turned to ISIL rather than negotiating with the government.
According to some security analysts, the Marawi violence was intended to prove their credentials to ISIL.
* Agence France-Presse and Associated Press