Snipers make rescue of trapped civilians, wounded soldiers difficult

MARAWI, Lanao del Sur - Snipers of the Maute group were making it difficult for government forces from rescuing wounded soldiers and trapped civilians in this southern city on Sunday, as fighting between state forces and local terrorists entered the sixth day. 

Authorities said around 17 non-combatants were reportedly stranded in a building in the downtown area after they sought shelter from the government's surgical airstrikes against the extremists.

 The building's fourth and fifth floors reportedly collapsed due to the airstrikes, trapping the civilians on the second floor.

ABS-CBN sources, meanwhile, said several wounded soldiers were also trapped in the city center.

Soldiers and elite policemen from the Special Action Forces have made several attempts to rescue their injured comrades and the civilians.

Snipers, however, have opened fire at the state troops, forcing them to retreat.

VIOLENCE MARS RAMADAN 

The military on Saturday said it will sustain the airstrikes to flush out Maute fighters. 

The offensives have damaged or destroyed at least 4 houses, including the residence of Lanao del Sur Rep. Jun Papandayan. 

The fighting has also made it difficult for Marawi residents to observe Ramadan, the holiest month in Islam, as many continued fleeing to safer ground or grappled with difficult conditions in evacuation centers. 

At least 31 suspected terrorists have been killed in clashes since Tuesday, 6 of whom may be fighters from Malaysia and Indonesia, Armed Forces spokesperson Restituto Padilla earlier said.

The government side, meanwhile, has suffered 13 deaths, 11 soldiers and two policemen. There has yet to be a confirmed count on civilian deaths, but nine people were found slain allegedly by the Maute group on Tuesday.

The pandemonium in Marawi erupted last Tuesday after a failed attempt to arrest Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon, the suspected leader of the Islamic State terror group in Southeast Asia. -- report from Ron Gagalac, ABS-CBN News

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Military hopes to defeat terrorists in Marawi City in 3 days

MANILA – Government forces will step up efforts to repel terrorist groups from Marawi City and hope to prevail in three days, the military said Saturday.

This as government continued bomb runs to flush out members of the Maute and Abu Sayyaf groups, who have been engaged in clashes with government troops since Tuesday.

In a press briefing, Western Mindanao Command chief Major General Carlito Galvez Jr. said local government officials and government troops would do their part to gain peace in Marawi City.

“I assure the public that, with the help of our governor, and local government units, rest assured that the military will do their part…Mamadaliin po namin ang normalcy, [so that residents can] go back in time for Ramadan…Hopefully tingnan natin, within three days we can [clear the city],” he told reporters in a briefing in Marawi City.

Local officials said only about 10 percent of Marawi City’s more than 200,000 residents remained in the conflict-stricken area.

Most evacuated when the firefights began, and others fled when the Armed Forces initiated its strategic airstrikes.


Those who plan to remain in the city until the end of hostilities should stay away from engagement areas and lock down their houses, the government said.

Authorities are closely guarding the Marawi City Hall as it is "the locality's symbol of sovereignty," officials said.

At least 31 suspected terrorists have been killed in clashes since Tuesday, six of whom were believed to be fighters from Malaysia and Indonesia, Armed Forces spokesperson Restituto Padilla earlier said.

At least 11 soldiers and two police officers have meanwhile been killed. Government has yet to release a confirmed count on civilian deaths as of this posting, but nine hostages were known to have been slain by the Maute group on Tuesday. 

Their bodies were found in Marawi City on Saturday as the fighting entered the fifth day. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Talks begin for more US troops in Philippines

MANILA - The Philippines and the United States began talks on Wednesday aimed at allowing a bigger US military presence on the soil of its key Asian ally, amid tensions with China.

The talks aim to draw up rules for more rotational, or temporary, deployments of US forces and military assets in the Philippines.

The Philippines has been looking to the United States for military and political support as part of efforts to protect its claims to South China Sea waters from an increasingly assertive China.

Although officials did not name China on Wednesday, President Benigno Aquino's office said a bigger US presence would help to build the Philippine military's capabilities.

"We want to build up a minimum credible defense. We understand that when the modalities have been thrashed out, it will help towards that," presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte told reporters.

In a statement on the opening of the talks, the lead Philippine negotiator also highlighted the importance of them to defending the country's territory.

"We would like to assure the Filipino people that your government is committed to defending and protecting the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity," Assistant Foreign Secretary Carlos Sorreta said.

Eric John, a senior US State Department negotiator, is leading the talks for the American side.

The opening round of the talks was for one day. Further rounds are expected in the coming weeks and months. The Philippines has said it wants the deal concluded before the end of the year.

The Philippines had hosted tens of thousands of US soldiers at two bases north of Manila, but they were forced to leave in 1992 after the Senate voted to end their lease contracts amid strong anti-American sentiment.

A new agreement that went into force in 1999 allowed US troops to return to the Philippines for joint military exercises involving several thousand members of the US military every year.

US special forces have also been rotating through the southern Philippines since 2002 to help Filipino soldiers against Islamic militants, with the maximum number there at any one time believed to be about 600.

The envisaged deal would see many more exercises, although the Philippines has insisted it will not allow a permanent US presence. This would require a change to the constitution.

The Philippines has accused China of building its military presence in the South China Sea in recent years.

China claims most of the sea, including waters close to the shores of its neighbors such as the Philippines.

While the United States has insisted it does not take sides in the dispute, it has been seeking to rebuild its military footprint in the Philippines as part of President Barack Obama's strategic "pivot" to Asia.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

PH, US widen talks for military deal

- Security allies expand scope of military cooperation talks

- Aim is to ease path for U.S. funding to build facilities

- U.S. may seek storage of gear, humanitarian relief supplies




MANILA - Washington and Manila have expanded talks on military cooperation to include possible U.S. funding to build facilities and the storage of U.S. humanitarian relief supplies, the Philippine envoy to the United States said on Tuesday.

The wider scope of the talks for joint use of civilian and military facilities signals rapidly warming security ties between the allies as the Philippines looks to the U.S. administration to help counter a newly assertive China.

The Philippines has ruled out granting permanent basing rights to Washington, Ambassador Jose Cuisia said, but it would give U.S. warplanes and warships wider access to Philippine bases on a temporary and rotational basis, helping the Asian nation improve its minimum defence capability.

The increasing rotational presence of U.S. forces in the country is covered by the 1998 Visiting Forces Agreement, but a new arrangement would be needed if Washington built facilities to support its temporary deployment to the Philippines.

"We need to expand (the 1998 pact) further because we may have to build some additional facilities," Cuisia told reporters in the Philippine capital.

The two countries have been in talks since 2011 for "joint use" of civilian and military facilities in the former U.S. colony.

The informal talks had reached ministerial level, Cuisia said, with both sides hoping for a deal before President Benigno Aquino steps down from office in June 2016.

"There has to be some agreement to support it. Especially if they spend money, there will have to be some agreement."

Cuisia said a new pact might involve a U.S. request for the storage of equipment and supplies in the Philippines to prepare for humanitarian aid and disaster relief efforts.

That would reduce delays in bringing in equipment from elsewhere, such as bases in Guam and Honolulu, he said.

"Then whenever it's needed it's so much easier to use that equipment because it's already here."

But funding construction activities could be a problem for the United States following huge cuts in its defense spending, Cuisia said.

Last month, the Philippine military told Reuters about plans to revive air and naval bases at Subic Bay, a former U.S. Navy facility that American forces could use to counter China's creeping presence in the disputed South China Sea.

Military and diplomatic sources familiar with security talks between the allies told Reuters Washington had identified fewer than a dozen civilian and military facilities to which it wanted greater access, most of them facing the South China Sea.

In some civilian locations, the military would need to build facilities for security and storage of supplies, spares and equipment. These facilities could later be offered for joint use with the United States.

Last December, the two nations also started informal talks on the pre-positioning of materials and gear, including that to be withdrawn from Iraq and Afghanistan as some U.S. forces return home, an air force colonel familiar with the talks said.

"The U.S. military would like to keep tonnes of humanitarian equipment, like tents, generators and shelter materials here," he told Reuters, adding that the latest two-way exercises on disaster response focused on this type of operation. (Reporting by Manuel Mogato; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com