ISLAMIC CITY OF MARAWI – One fatality in the ongoing siege of Marawi is an apparent deserter of the terrorist Maute Group, found sprawled on a side street with a handwritten farewell note asking for understanding from his former comrades, and his remains count among the seventy-some bodies that have remained unclaimed.
At Capin Funeral Homes in Tubod, Iligan City, News5 learned that some of the unclaimed bodies were apparent victims of summary executions. Some have not been identified and nobody had come to identify them.
According to Dr. Christian Caballes, chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Region 10 command autopsy team, there are bodies that bore wounds from gunshots fired from close range, indicating execution style killing.
Among these were the remains of a five-year old girl, as well as other girls shot in the head. Authorities believe some of these were among hostages of the terrorists or victims used as human shields.
Many of these remains are already in advanced stages of decomposition. Families in search of missing persons in this armed conflict may inquire at the PNP Crime Laboratory in Iligan City.
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