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Military says terrorists scattered explosives in parts of Marawi

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Dharel Placido, ABS-CBN News

MANILA – Only less than a hundred Islamist extremists remain in Marawi, but government troops are taking time to liberate the besieged city due to the presence of improvised explosive devices in various areas.Armed Forces spokesperson Restituto Padilla Jr. said displaced Marawi residents are still not allowed to go back to their homes as the situation in the city remains unstable.“Scattered all over the city are IEDs that have been set up by the terrorists,” Padilla said in a news conference in Pasay City.“The area right now that… remains problematic are two villages or two barangays. And the area that we are addressing is approximately less than one square kilometer. So this is where our focus of attention regarding military operations is currently ongoing.”Over 400,000 residents in Marawi and surrounding areas were displaced by the siege. The government has allowed residents in some of these areas to return to their homes. However, the roughly 200,000 Marawi residents are still not allowed to return to their homes due to safety concerns.Nine more suspected terrorists were killed, putting the death toll from their side at 522, according to the government data as of Thursday, August 3.The number of slain government troops now stands at 119, while civilian fatalities remain at 45.At least 300 residents remain trapped in the battle zone, including those held hostage by the terrorists.Padilla said fighting becomes tougher as government troops inch closer to the stronghold of the Islamist extremists, led by Maute and Abu Sayyaf groups.“So as we go through the military operations, it becomes a very close fight and the complexities on the ground are really becoming much more challenging,” he said.Even as the military expects the Marawi siege to be over soon, government will soon start building transitory homes in an 11-hectare lot in the city’s Barangay Sagonsongan.Assistant Secretary Kristoffer Purisima, spokesperson of Task Force Bangon Marawi, said an initial 1,100 housing units will be built on the lot.“The group of punong barangays from affected areas has chosen the design of a single-detached transitional shelter with individual toilets. In choosing the design, they cited the need for privacy, cultural and religious sensitivity and a place to stay which they could consider as their home,” Purisima said.A technical working group will identify displaced residents who would avail of the temporary housing units, Purisima added.Purisima said the task force will also ensure that basic services such as electricity and water, as well as other facilities will be made available to those who will occupy the transitory homes.President Rodrigo Duterte placed Mindanao under martial law on May 23 after terrorists captured parts of Marawi in a bid to establish an Islamic State province in the Philippines.The emergence of groups pledging allegiance to Islamic State has been considered the biggest security problem to face the year-old Duterte administration.The rise of pro-Islamic State groups in the country has also raised alarm in Washington and the Philippines’ neighbors in the region, which fear that the notorious terror group was seeking to establish a new front in Asia amid its successive losses in Iraq and Syria.

MANILA – Only less than a hundred Islamist extremists remain in the Marawi, but government troops are taking time to liberate the besieged city due to the presence of improvised explosive devices in various areas.

MANILA – Only less than a hundred Islamist extremists remain in the Marawi, but government troops are taking time to liberate the besieged city due to the presence of improvised explosive devices in various areas.

Military says terrorists scattered explosives in parts of Marawi

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Military says terrorists scattered explosives in parts of Marawi

Dharel Placido,

ABS-CBN News

Published Aug 04, 2017 05:33 PM PHT

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Marawi

AFP

Armed Forces of the Philippines

Restituto Padilla

Maute

Mindanao

extremism

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