A drone-recorded video clip shows a group of armed men, garbed in black, on the move at a street in Marawi’s war zone, supporting a person propped by a blanket.
They appear to be carrying what a military analyst suspects is a so-called high-value target.
In an interview with News5, a person who shall be known as Abdul [not his real name] recounted the manner by which the extremist Maute Group, which claims to be affiliated with the self-styled caliphate known as Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), tried to persuade him into joining their ranks.
The one who tried to recruit him, he revealed, was a former bodyguard of Former Marawi City Mayor Fahad “Pre” Salic.
But Abdul declined the offer.
“Ang sabi niya mabuti pa, sumama ka sa amin bigyan ka namin ng PhP100,000 at saka Armalite (Better join us. We will give you P100,00 and an Armalite rifle),” he recalled.
But Abdul had a family and children, he knew better: “I knew if I went with them, 99% I would not return. I knew. Their men had moved, to Masiu, to Piagapo. Most of them never returned.”
He shared that they had a P5 million budget for recruitment.
Abdul knows of relatives who were convinced to join the Maute, which enjoyed the support of some local politicians.
He estimated the Maute forces numbered about 1,000 men when the Marawi standoff broke out.
It was a good mix of fighting men, he recalled, “counting Maranaos, Christians, some foreigners, folk from Maguindanao Province, even Tausug and Yakan.”
Because of the attrition in the Maute ranks, many relatives of the fighters are clamoring to be allowed into ground zero to rescue their loved ones.
This development has prompted the military and security forces to clamp down on security measures and prevent any untoward attempt at infiltration or escape by boat on Lake Lanao.
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