The destructive siege began five months ago
The Philippines government said it had broken the final stand of Islamic State-linked militants in the southern city of Marawi, killing all remaining combatants exactly five months after the bloody battle began.
“We have successfully concluded what has been, so far, the most serious threat of violent extremism and radicalism in the Philippines and in Southeast Asia,” presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said in a statement.
Mr. Abella said the government would shift its focus “to the enormous and challenging task of rebuilding, reconstruction and rehabilitation of the Islamic City.”
Separately, at a meeting of defense ministers from Southeast Asia in the northern city of Clark, Philippines Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said that there were no more militants in Marawi and that combat was over, local media reported.
“I think that the Philippine military has sent a strong message to the terrorists everywhere,” U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said en route to the meeting in Manila. Mr. Mattis said he would commend the Philippine military for its success.
The battle for Marawi, once a relatively prosperous Muslim trading town of 200,000, has shocked counterterrorism experts and Philippine officials with its brutality and the unexpected capability of the militants to hold out so long.
The conflict has stoked concern about the spread of Islamic State-inspired violence into other parts of the world including…