ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines - Troops are moving onto the second phase as the government prepares for the rehabilitation for the full recovery of the city, taken under siege by Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) fighters loyal to Nur Misuari for three weeks.
Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said the "first part is over" as troops are only pursuing "two to three strugglers" hiding in the city's mangrove area.
Gazmin made the statement right inside the battle ground amidst the ruins and burned houses along Martha Drive in Barangay Sta. Catalina.
The defense chief went to the area for the first time since the MNLF fighters attacked the villages last September 9. With him were Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas and Armed Forces Chief of Staf General Emmanuel Bautista.
Bautista for his part said the government forces were pursuing a lesser and splintered members of the MNLF rebels that joined the attack in this city.
“Organize action on the enemy part is no longer possible,†Bautista said. “Meron natira are the strugglers.â€
Gazmin said they are now in the second phase, which is the clearing of all the areas in the city that were occupied by the rebels.
During the three-week standoff, the rebels torched dozens of homes in several areas to prevent the government troops from advancing into their positions.
Gazmin said troops involved in the clearing operations are looking for unexploded bombs, ammunitions and booby traps left by the rebels.
He said the Philippine National Police is leading phase two and the Armed Forces of the Philippines has been tasked to secure the areas.
“So we are doing the room to room, house to house clearing…sinisiguro natin ligtas na ang lugar na ito,†the defense chief said.
Rehabilitation
After the areas occupied by the rebels have been cleared, Gazmin said they will turn these over to the city government and the construction and rehabilitation should commence.
“So it is important that this place is safe,†said Gazmin.
During the visit, a Philippine flag was hoisted at Tres Alas, a three-storey building that the military said was where the group of MNLF leader Habier Malik took their last stand before retreating.
Roxas said the damage wrought by the MNLF's hostilities in the city is almost unimaginable with at least 10,000 houses and buildings devastated by bullets, explosions and fire.
Malik is dead?
Gazmin said that policemen and government troops involved in the clearing operations recovered at least 42 bodies of suspected MNLF rebels along Martha Drive alone. He said some of the bodies were charred beyond recognition and some were already in the state of decomposition.
The government is already in the process of identifying the bodies through forensic tests.
Gazmin said that they are not sure if Malik has been killed during the MNLF's last stand in the area.
The military earlier said that one of the MNLF fighters who surrendered claimed that Malik had been wounded.