Military: 5 more months to clear Marawi of bombs

From Malaya Business Insight (Nov 27): Military: 5 more months to clear Marawi of bombs

IT may take five more months or until April next year to clear Marawi City of improvised bombs, firearms, and other war materiel left behind by the Maute Group.

This is according to the Task Force Bangon Marawi which is in charge of the rehabilitation of Marawi City, said Col. Romeo Brawner, deputy commander of the military’s Joint Task Force Ranao.

Bangon Marawi is headed by housing czar Eduardo del Rosario and composed of various agencies including the military.

Brawner said the military is still clearing about 2 x 1.5 kilometers of the main battle area which covers portions of 24 barangays that were directly affected by Maute attack on May 23.

The military ended the combat operations on October 23. The fighting has resulted in the death of 974 Maute members, 165 soldiers and policemen, and 47 civilians.

Brawer said the initial clearing operation was “visual.”

“Now, we are using equipment like metal detectors. Our clearing operation now is more deliberate,” he said.

Since the termination of the combat operations, troops have recovered 77 firearms from the main battle area.

Brawner could not immediately say the exact number of explosives recovered by the military since October 23 but said soldiers found 16 bombs last week.

“The other day, we accompanied imams (Muslim religious leaders) at the Grand Mosque and one of our soldier-engineers found a bomb while urinating near the area. So it’s not yet cleared,” said Brawner.

Asked why it would take until April to clear the area of explosives,

Brawner said, “Because we have to be deliberate. It’s hard to declare its cleared and the residents would enter to retrieve their belongings or the demolition teams, the developers, would come in with their equipment and they’ll fall victims to explosions.”

As to Maute stragglers, Brawner said: “It appears, there are no more Maute left.” Twelve stragglers have been killed from October 23 to November 5, the last reported clash in Marawi.

The Department of Interior and Local Government said with the end of the Marawi conflict, government has vowed to “nip violent extremism in the bud” by promoting peace education and nurturing moderation among the youth.

“Violent extremism is here and now. We saw that in the Marawi crisis. We are seeing it all over the world. Let us therefore put forward more initiatives to promote social and ethical values among our youth and insulate them from violent extremism,” said DILG officer-in-charge Catalino Cuy.

http://malaya.com.ph/business-news/news/military-5-more-months-clear-marawi-bombs