Troops clear St. Mary's cathedral in Marawi

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — Government forces have finally cleared and retaken a Catholic church in the center of predominantly Muslim Marawi City after 95 days of fighting.

 

The military said troops took control of St. Mary’s Cathedral on Friday but had to clear the church of improvised explosive devices left by the Maute group, which seized the church in Marinaut village on May 23, the first day of fighting.

 

Capt. Jo-Ann Petinglay, spokesperson of Western Mindanao (Westmincom) and Joint Task Force Marawi, said troops from the 10th Infantry Battalion assaulted and took over over the church Friday afternoon. 

 

It will be recalled that, during the first week of the siege, the Maute group posted videos of them seizing the church and desecrating religious images there.

 

The group also seized Fr. Teresito ‘Chito’ Soganob along with 10 others.

 

Petinglay said that after the successful recovery of the church, troops were able to recover three high-powered firearms and assorted ammunition inside the building.

 

The recovery came barely a day after the troops also retook the Islamic Center and the Grand Mosque that the Maute group used as a command and control center.

 

The troops recovered three "booby traps", a suicide bomb suit with IED; two Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) launchers; an RPG rocket and a tripod for a 50-cal. machine gun. They also recovered the black flag used by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

 

Troops also found a tunnel inside the mosque that the military believes the Maute group used to store ammunition.

 

"We have seen how these terrorists have desecrated both the Islamic Center and the St Mary's Cathedral," said Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez, Jr., Westmincom chief.

 

"This only shows how these people do not respect any religion may it be Christian or Muslim," Galvez added as he condemned the terrorist group from exploiting the Mosques and church in its barbarism.

On Friday, Muslim police and soldiers held prayer rites at the Masjid Saad Huzam Almusairi, which they had also managed to retake from the Mautes.

 

Assemblyman Zia Alonto Adiong of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao said on Sunday that the first ever Jumaah worship rite at the Masjid Saad since May 23 inspired them more to continue working for the restoration of normalcy in Marawi City.

 

Adiong, spokesman of the provincial crisis management committee under the office of the governor in Lanao del Sur, said that Christian police officers and soldiers helped clean the worship site and secure its surroundings after its Maute occupants left the week before.

 

READ: Police, soldiers pray in Marawi mosque retaken from Mautes

 

“That again was a tacit indication that the conflict here is not a conflict among Muslims and Christians. It is these two groups that are working together to restore law and order in Marawi City,” Adiong said. 

 

Maranao datu Norodin Alonto Lucman, son of the late Lanao del Sur Rep. Rashid Lucman, said on Sunday that it is forbidden for Muslims to use mosques as launching sites for activities harmful to Muslims and non-Muslims.