CLARK, Philippines (AP) – Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana declared the last of the pro-Islamic State group militants in southern Marawi city were “finished.”
He told reporters Monday in Clark that troops recovered 42 bodies of the last group of militant stragglers.
He said, “Those are the last group of stragglers of Mautes and they were caught in one building so there was a firefight, so they were finished.”
Two security officials had told The Associated Press earlier Monday that troops had found the bodies after capturing the building where the militants made their final stand.
Lorenzana said hostages the militants had held were recovered a few days earlier. He said, “There are no more militants inside Marawi City.”
The Marawi siege involving hundreds of black flag-waving gunmen was launched exactly five months ago.