DWDD: SIEGE ENDS | CSAFP: Marawi experience to be evaluated

From DWDD AFP Civil Relations Service Radio Website (Oct 24): SIEGE ENDS  |  CSAFP: Marawi experience to be evaluated



CAMP GEN EMILIO AGUINALDO, Quezon City (DWDD) – AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Eduardo Año expressed relief that the government has achieved total victory in its campaign to free Marawi City from the hands of the Daesh-inspired Maute terror group.

He described the last stand of the remaining terrorist at Bandariingan Mosque and an adjacent two-storey structure as very intense. They were trying to convince the remaining terrorist to surrender but most were suicidal and opted to fight it out.

In the aftermath, troops were able to recover more than forty (40) cadavers of terrorist and some of their relatives.

Since President Rodrigo Duterte declared Marawi as liberated, government force incurred 32 Wounded-in-Action and 2 Killed-in-Action.

Based on the latest tally, the total number of terrorist killed was at 962, while the AFP and PNP lost 165 officers and men.

Gen Año stated that with the large number of terrorist neutralized in the Marawi siege, it will serve as a stern warning to Maute remnants and other terrorist groups to think twice before launching any similar event. Secondly, it was also a lesson for civilians that in order to defeat terrorism, it needs the full cooperation and vigilance of the community.

Gen Año meanwhile added that the government can now concentrate with the next phase which is the return of Marawi residents back to their homes and the reconstruction and rebuilding of homes and structures destroyed by the siege.

When asked by media if the Marawi siege was a defining moment for his career, Gen Año reiterated that the victory gained in Marawi was a concerted effort by the AFP, PNP and other law enforcement agencies, not by a single entity. But what he was able to prove to himself was that at critical times, as the Chief of Staff and his experience as a soldier, he was able decide and strategize effectively, aside from the fact that he has great commanders on the ground.

On lessons learned, the AFP will be reviewing its doctrines and strategy, specially on the appreciation of intelligence information, like in the case of the Maute who were downplayed as a small ragtag group, despite numerous intelligence report reporting otherwise. They will also review and implement new strategies on urban warfare, since the AFP concentrated on jungle warfare. AES/ALS

http://dwdd.com.ph/2017/10/24/siege-ends-csafp-marawi-experience-to-be-evaluated/