Troops retake Marawi grand mosque from ISIS-Maute bandits

Government troops have retaken the Marawi's Grand Mosque after it was occupied by members of the ISIS-inspired Maute Group that attacked the city on May 23, the Armed Forces of the Philippines confirmed on Friday.

AFP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla Jr. said it took the soldiers a month to reclaim the religious facility from the armed group.

“The retaking of the Marawi City Grand Mosque or the Islamic Center [was] an operation that allowed us to reach this stage but it took almost a month before this was achieved and I shall elaborate on that in a little while. The clearing is still ongoing,” Padilla said.

However, the soldiers were not able to rescue any hostages or arrest terrorists.

“But right now, we’re still clearing the facility of unexploded ordnance and IEDs that we found to be in abundance in the building itself,” he said, adding that it would take around a month to ensure that the structure is completely cleared.

To reclaim the Grand Mosque, Padilla said that the troops did not conduct a frontal attack on the structure.

He said the plan was "elaborate” as soldiers first targeted the installations near the mosque.

“And in our entry to the Grand Mosque, we were met by resistance from the enemy who were holding the area, while the main force of the enemy was retreating. We incurred three wounded in the process,” he said.

It was earlier announced that the troops were able to retake the Marawi City police station and other mosques held by the terrorists.

Padilla said the main battle area had been reduced to half a square kilometer grid.

Despite the significant developments, the military official maintained that there would be no deadlines set in clearing the whole Marawi City of Maute bandits.

“We’re doing our best to end this crisis as soon as possible, and that’s an assurance that even our troops on the ground yesterday made to the President,” Padilla said.

“But as I mentioned also repeatedly in the past, these are delicate operations that we need to do slowly. The cases of unexploded ordnance, IEDs in every room, in every corner, are matters that put our troops in danger every minute of the day,” he added. —NB/KVD, GMA News