Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal Adiong Jr. on Friday morning joined police and Army forces in commemorating the 8th year after this city’s main business area was retaken from the hands of Islamic State-linked militants.
Police and military personnel gathered for the commemoration rites at Kampo Ranao, headquarters of the Army’s 103rd Infantry Brigade, and where a marker bearing the names of 161 soldiers and seven policemen who perished in the government’s bid to retake the city from the militants was erected.
The marker, dubbed the ‘Tears from the Sun’ monument, honors their bravery and courage during the five-month campaign from May to October 2017 to flush out the terrorists who laid a siege on the city.
Adiong was joined by Brigadier General Felix Ronnie Babac, Assistant Division Commander of the Army’s 1st Infantry Division, in laying a wreath at the marker after an honor hymn rendered through bugle.
Eight years ago today, then-President Rodrigo Duterte declared the liberation of Marawi from IS control, although it took until Oct. 23 to completely flush them out of the main battle zone.
A book on insider accounts of the 2017 war, written by journalist Carmela Fonbuena, revealed that small-scale fights continued until December that year./coa