The wives of some Maute fighters remaining in Marawi City have surrendered to authorities, the military confirmed Oct. 22.
Col. Romeo Brawner Jr., deputy commander of Joint Task Force Ranao, said the final hostages were rescued along with some wives of the Maute fighters and will subsequently undergo psychosocial debriefing.
“We gave them all the chances to surrender. We gave them all the chances to come out and in fact, some of them did. May mga lumabas pong asawa ng Maute kasama ng hostages,” ABS-CBN News quoted him as saying.
However, some wives stayed with their husbands in the battlefield.
The military said the remaining Maute fighters are around 30 in number and are trapped inside one building, making it geographically easier for the military to overtake them.
Brawner promised to end the war in Marawi as soon as possible.
“Our government forces will do everything to finish the firefight today. It’s either mapatay nila ang lahat ng Maute ISIS (Islamic State)…or it’s either ma-capture natin or mag-surrender sila,” ABS-CBN News quoted him as saying.
Source: ABS-CBN News
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
