Military to complete clearing operations in Marawi in April

From the Business Mirror (Nov 27): Military to complete clearing operations in Marawi in April

The military needs some more months, or at least until April next year, to finish clearing the main battle area in Marawi City of unexploded ordnance and bombs left by the terrorists, a military official said last Sunday.

Col. Romeo Brawner, deputy commander of the military’s Joint Task Force Ranao, said the Task Force Bangon Marawi, which has been tasked to spearhead the repair and rehabilitation of the war-torn city, set the April 2018 deadline for the clearing operations.

However, Brawner said the deadline would still depend on how fast they can do the clearing operations and the presence of unexploded bombs in the battle area, which they could not estimate as it covers a large part of the city.

“Our clearing operations are very deliberate. It’s hard for us to say the area is already cleared and the residents would return to retrieve [belongings], and then they would be hit by explosion. That would be dangerous,” he said.

The same case applies to the demolition teams or even the developers, who risk exposing themselves to explosions.

According to Brawner, soldiers using metal detectors continue to recover firearms and unexploded bombs in the battle areas.

At least 77 firearms have been recovered, aside from unexploded bombs and ordnance. Last week the clearing operations unearthed 16 bombs in just two days.

Brawner said the clearing operations were being undertaken “sector by sector” in the 24 barangays that used to be the main battle area between the soldiers and members of the Islamic State-Maute Group.

https://businessmirror.com.ph/military-to-complete-clearing-operations-in-marawi-in-april/