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Fierce Maute resistance boosts IS profile in Philippines
 [Washington Times] Philippine military officials said this week that the five dozen or so rebels still holding out in Marawi have begun putting out “feelers” on ending their resistance, but the terrorist group’s ability to hold out so long is deepening concerns that the Islamic State will look to the Pacific as it is pushed out of its strongholds in the Middle East.Islamic State claimed over the weekend that the Maute group killed 50 soldiers as the military launched a massive offensive to drive insurgents out of Marawi. It was some of the heaviest fighting since the group took control of the city. Troops pushed Maute fighters out of positions near the strategically critical bridge in the Banggolo neighborhood, where rebels had been able to choke off the military advance into the city. The bridge is one of three linking Marawi’s city center to surrounding neighborhoods. Military spokesperson Jo-ann Petinglay said Friday that the battle zone had been narrowed to a roughly 50-acre patch in the city. Filipino military leaders now say they hope to wrap up the campaign in October, and President Duterte has ruled out any deal to allow the last fighters to flee in exchange for the release of dozens of hostages. Despite claims that the Maute group was almost finished in Marawi, Duterte reinstated martial law across the southern province over the weekend after Maute affiliate Jamaatu al-Muhajireen wal Ansar retook an extremist training camp in the southern Philippine town of Datu Salibo 62 miles away. The camp had been protected by a joint force of government troops and members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.  The tenacity of the Maute group’s hold on Marawi are bolstered by an influx of advanced weaponry and combat-hardened Islamic State advisers — mostly from the Middle East and Chechnya — directed into the Philippines by the group’s operational leadership in Syria.Rory MacNeil, a research associate with the Australian National University, said, "Through Hapilon, ISIS has provided an influx of supplies, ammunition, high-tech communications equipment and foreign fighters. By contrast, the [Philippine military] is poorly equipped and inexperienced in conducting urban counterinsurgency operations” since the majority of its counterterrorism operations experience is rooted in jungle warfare against small bands of rebel forces." Aside from operational support, the Maute group and other Islamic State affiliates in the region have adopted some of the terrorist group’s successful propaganda tactics, including the use of social media, to expand their reach in the region. Geoffrey Hartman, a fellow in the Southeast Asia Program at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that the Maute group “represents the next generation of Islamic extremism in Southeast Asia, with a leadership educated in Egypt and Jordan and ties to jihadist allies in both the Middle East and other parts of Southeast Asia." But critics say the fact that the Marawi crisis began with a failed attempt to capture Hapilon in a suspected safe house near Marawi is proof that the Philippine military is not up to the task. National War College professor Zachary Abuza said, "The whole siege began with a botched raid, and there is compelling evidence that the Maute group set a very effective ambush for them. Second, the [Philippine army] cannot claim to have been taken by surprise. The Maute group has besieged towns and cities twice in 2016. This is part of their playbook." Posted by: ryuge 2017-09-17 |
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