Sacred places

The AFP immediately took back its plans to include mosques as targets of airstrikes, as Maute terrorists continue to use them as machine gun nests and sniper positions. The military has avoided targeting sacred places, as stipulated in the Geneva Convention, aside from being sensitive to our Muslim brothers. But the continued use of these holy places by Maute terrorists has slowed down the progress of the military in clearing Marawi. The military brass considered including the mosques being used, but decided to respect them and continue clearing the city the hard way.

For all we know, this may be a strategy of the Maute terrorists. If the military bombed the mosques, they may gain the sympathy of many Muslims who will then join them in the fight. As of Tuesday, they control around twenty percent of the city, which is about four barangays. This is not to say that residents can return to the eighty or so percent that the military has cleared. With the decision to continue respecting sacred buildings, the fight may take longer. The AFP is also asking people to stop spreading fake news that the mosques have been bombed, as they have not. Not surprising as psychological warfare is all part of the game.

During the first Gulf War, Israel did not join the allied coalition for obvious reasons. Which is why Iraq started targeting Israeli cities, in an effort to draw them in. Had Israel joined the fight, the coalition would have dissolved, turning the region chaotic at best. So Israel just stood its ground and took the Scud missile hits. But Iraq did not target the city of Jerusalem. Jerusalem has holy sites of the three major religions –Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.

The Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque are sacred to Islam. For Judaism, the Temple Mount is also located in Jerusalem, which includes the Wailing Wall. And for Christians, The Church of the Holy Sepulchre which marks the spot where Christ was crucified. This made Jerusalem untouchable, even during the Gulf War. Obviously, the Maute fighters do not have such sensitivities to sacred places, which is why they continue to use them to their benefit. We can only hope that with the possibility of a protracted battle for the remaining parts of Marawi, our soldiers do not incur any more losses.