MANILA: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Wednesday a three-month battle against IS supporters occupying parts of a southern city was in its “final stages”. Duterte gave his assessment shortly after government troops secured a vital bridge in Marawi city, allowing them easier access into areas being held by the militants.

“We are in the final stages. So let us send immediately, even air-lift, the police,” to Marawi, Duterte said in the capital Manila, about 800 kms to the north of the battle zone.

Pro-IS gunmen occupied parts of Marawi, the Islamic capital of the mainly Catholic Philippines on May 23, triggering a battle that the military says has left almost 800 people dead. The fighting, which has included a US-backed air campaign against the militants, has destroyed large parts of Marawi.

Duterte on Wednesday warned that, even with the Marawi battle over, the militants could still launch attacks elsewhere in the Philippines, particularly in the strife-torn south where the country’s Muslim minority is based.

Published in Dawn, August 31st, 2017