Battle to free Marawi in Philippines continues, enters fifth month

MANILA, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Bullets continue to fly and rocket bombs continue to explode in Marawi as the military offensive to completely retake the southern Philippine city from Islamic State (IS)-inspired extremists entered its fifth month.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said the pro-IS Maute militants managed to prepare sufficient caches of bombs, high-powered firearms and ammunition to fight the government security forces even before they laid siege to Marawi on May 23.

"The Maute was really preparing for a long-haul (fight). Until now, they never run out of ordnance, explosives, ammunition, and all. I really do not know the extent now of the contamination," Duterte told reporters in his home city of Davao late Friday.

He said local politicians who are into drug trafficking funded the war in Marawi. He showed a new diagram of politicians and people who are allegedly linked to illegal drug trade.

To date, he said "hundreds" of soldiers and policemen have been killed in drug-related encounters.

Drug traffickers usually own high-powered firearms like M-16 assault rifles, machine guns and repeating rifles or repeaters, a single-barreled rifle containing multiple rounds of ammunition, he said.

"We discovered many of these kinds of weapons in Marawi," Duterte said. "They have lots of Barrett (sniper rifles) which can hit you 1.5 kilometers away," he added, making it extremely difficult for government troops to fight IS militants.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is using jet fighters and helicopter gunships such as the FA50s, OV-10 Bronco attack aircraft and SIAI-Marchetti SF-260 attack planes, the AgustaWestland AW-109 and MG-520 helicopters in fighting the militants.

The AFP also used the P3 Orion surveillance planes and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to collect vital information on enemy positions.

As Philippine forces close in on the shrinking Maute-controlled areas, the AFP now uses tanks to advance towards the IS militants shrinking position.

During his visit to war-torn Marawi City last Thursday, Duterte lauded the United States and China for their help in fighting the Maute extremists.

Army Maj. Rolando Bautista, the commander of Joint Task Force Marawi, vowed to win the war. "In this final state of enemy assaults, we will eventually win the war against terrorism in Marawi City," he said in a statement.

In a statement, Bautista said the AFP has promoted 15 soldiers who fought it out with the militants in Marawi.

"The donning of ranks is to recognize our troops for their selfless service to the people of Marawi. We will sustain the high morale of our troops who are engaging the terrorists to restore peace," Bautista said.

Army Sgt. Emmanuel Arpon was among those promoted to a higher rank. "We are here in Marawi to fight against the Maute terrorists. We will continue our fight until we accomplish our mission," Arpon said.

The 124-day war has so far cost the government between 2 billion pesos (39.5 million U.S. dollars) to 3 billion pesos in ammunition and fuel, according to military and defense estimate.

The conflict also ruined most of the city's buildings and houses that were used by the militants as hideouts and fortress. "We will need a lot of money to rebuild Marawi," Duterte said.

Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said that rebuilding the besieged city could cost about 56 billion pesos.

After talking to military ground commanders in Marawi last Thursday, Duterte predicted that the war could "wind up" soon.

"I told the soldiers that we will not have any celebration. After all has been said and done, we will just go out quietly. Pack their things and go home," he said, adding that there is nothing to celebrate. "There are no winners (in this war). We're all losers actually," he said.

Duterte said the war has also taken its toll on the troops' well-being. More than 900 people have so far been killed in the continuing conflict, including 689 Maute fighters and 151 soldiers and policemen, according to military and government data.

Fighting continues to flush out the remaining 60 to 80 militants still holed up in the city, the military said. (1 U.S. dollar equals to 50.62 pesos)