Maute beheading hostages, military says

MANILA, Philippines — A military spokesman claimed on Monday that Islamist fighters still entrenched in Marawi have beheaded several individuals based on accounts of rescued civilians, although it has not yet recovered any decapitated body.

Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla, Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesperson, told DZMM radio that the Islamic State-inspired militants had executed Christians based on the information provided by individuals who were rescued or who escaped from the militant stronghold at the heart of the city.

Padilla added that the beheading did not just happen at the beginning of the conflict but has been continuing up to now, according to those who have escaped.

“Tama po yung impormasyong nakukuha natin. Yan po ay naging parte ng simula ng pagkakaroon ng bakbakan dyan. Napakadami na rin pong impormasyon dahil lahat po ng kanilang nahuhuli at nakikita nilang mga Kristyano ay ine-execute nila,” the military official said.

He added: “Ngayon ito naman pong nare-rescue nating mga kababayan natin sa loob at yung ilang nakakatakas, ganyan na rin po yung binigay na feedback. Kaya malaki po ang pruweba na hindi lang po nung simula nila ginawa ito kung hindi patuloy pa rin hanggang sa ngayon.”

'No bodies recovered'

Padilla said that their assessment is based on survivor accounts as well as the videos posted by the militants on the websites of their sympathizers.

However, when asked if they had recovered any body whose head had been severed to serve as proof that beheadings really transpired, Padilla said: “Opo, wala pa po tayong nare-recover bagamat maaaring ginawa ito sa lugar na pinagkukutaan nila na sa ngayon ay hindi pa natin napapasok.”

He said that based on the information from the local government there were still around 500 civilians trapped in the heart of the city, where the clashes have been the most intense.

This figure is higher than the figure given by Lt. Col. Jo-ar Herrera, the spokesperson of the Joint Task Force Marawi.

According to Herrera, there were only around 100 to 200 individuals trapped or being held hostage by the Maute rebels.

In a separate radio interview, Herrera also reported that rescue operations had freed around 1,704 civilians taken hostage or caught in the hostilities between government troops and Maute and Abu Sayyaf fighters that started more than a month ago.

The military also disclosed that Catholic priest Teresito Suganob, one of the highest profile hostages in militant hands, is still alive, according to an account from a recently-freed individual.

Security personnel are still struggling to completely retake the city already scarred by fighting that started on May 23.

According to Padilla, the rebels are now fewer than 100 and confined to around four villages in Marawi City.

Despite its superior air support and ground troops, the military has struggled to defeat the Islamist fighters and has failed to meet several self-imposed deadlines.

The clashes have so far claimed the lives of more than 350 individuals, most of whom are from the Maute and Abu Sayyaf local terror groups.

According to Padilla, 69 security personnel and 27 civilians have been killed in the fighting that sent most of Marawi’s 200,000 residents fleeing their homes and livelihood for safer grounds.

The fighting began after government troops launched a failed attempt to arrest Isnilon Hapilon, an Abu Sayyaf subleader and the appointed emir of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in the region. Hapilon has reportedly abandoned the Maute group as government troops continue to near their lair.

The hostilities led to President Rodrigo Duterte’s declaration of military rule in Mindanao, an island of 22 million, which holds vast natural resources but faces security threats in some areas.

They have also worried leaders of neighboring Southeast Asian nations as the specter of a so-called ISIS stronghold in the region looms.