(CNN Philippines, June 20) — Government forces dropped aerial bombs on enemy positions in Marawi City and non-stop artillery attacks continued to pound the four remaining barangays held by the Maute group as government troops close in on the terrorists.
Twenty-nine days into the crisis, the military has recaptured seven barangays occupied by the lawless elements.
But while the safe zones expand, the danger remains high.
CCTV footage showed members of media running to take cover and dropping to the ground as stray bullets flew in their direction.
This happened inside the Capitol Compound, supposedly a safe zone inside the besieged city, almost two weeks after a child was shot dead by sniper fire inside a mosque and just days after Australian journalist Adam Harvey was hit by a stray bullet.
READ: Foreign journalist hit by stray bullet in Marawi
According to Lt. Col. Jo-ar Herrera, spokesperson of Joint Task Force Marawi, explains why bullets whizz by
by the capitol.
“Secured po ang Capitol. Our forces are deployed in the controlled area dito yung facilitation ng humanitarian activities natin so hindi siya target. Talagang line of sight lang siya. Yun yung logical explanation kung bakit may dumadaan na stray bullet,” Herrera said.
[Translation: The capitol is secured. Our forces are deployed in the controlled area, this is where the facilitation of humanitarian activities are done so this area is not a target. It’s just in the line of sight. This is the logical explanation why the stray bullets go through.]
The Armed Forces also confirmed the terrorists were using drones to monitor their movement.
“We have reported drones. Meron tayong mga natake down na ginamit nilang drones,” Herrera added.
[Translation: We were able to take down drones that they used.]
As of Tuesday afternoon, authorities reported the dead included 258 terrorists, 26 civilans, and 65 government troops.
As the holy month of Ramadan comes to an end in less than a week, residents displaced by the skirmishes remain hopeful the conflict will end soon.
Zia Alonto Adiong, spokesperson of the Provincial Crisis Management Committee said he was hoping for things to get back to normal soon.
“Edl Fitr is a get together, share meals together, we hope by the end of Ramadan there will be a sense of normalcy,” he said.
Meanwhile, government forces started carrying out “Operation Padlock” where they sweep all cleared areas and secure abandoned houses.
Lt. Col. Christopher Tampus of the 1st Infantry Battalion who leads the operation said this was for the residents’ peace of mind over properties they left behind after fleeing the conflict area.
Tampus said they have locked and marked over 500 houses on the first day of implementation. He added that this was a continuous operation and their target was to padlock more than a thousand abandoned houses in affected barangays.
