Latest reports have stated some 39 militants are currently still holed up in the besieged city of Marawi days after the military announced the end of operations against the Islamic State (IS)-pledged terrorists.
The authorities were reported as saying that the “straggling” militants currently do not have a leader and are therefore without direction.
The remaining militants are not seen to be a threat as they are now contained in a small section of the city by troops with clearing operations under way to flush them out.
However, a former fighter of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which was an insurgent group in southern Philippines, has said there will always be a leader in a fighting group no matter how insignificant the task at hand.
“To say a small group of remaining militants is leaderless is wrong and an underestimation of their cohesiveness,” the former MILF member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told FMT.
“In historical Islam, there was always an emir, or leader, and even an assistant emir.
“The emir would make a decision on any matter, no matter how small, after gathering opinions or ideas from the group members.
“It’s the same with their mission in Marawi, with what they think is jihad.
“Even if two fighters were sent to fetch drinking water for the whole group, an emir would be appointed among the duo.”
The MILF veteran added that there are usually two ways to appoint a leader in an armed rebel group operating on the field.
“An emir can make a pronouncement before his death that so-and-so should be made the leader after he is dead.
“But if the leader dies without having made the ‘wasiah’ or pronouncement, the group members can discuss and agree on a new leader among them,” he said.
He added that even if the group had contact with their central command, they could just proceed with picking their own leader instead of waiting for orders on who it should be.
“The appointment of a leader does not have to come from the group’s central command, especially if the group is on the field and cut off from communication with their command centre.
“Even if they can still communicate with their central command, sometimes it’s more expedient for a group during field operations to appoint a new leader without involving their command centre.”
On Wednesday, Indonesian militant, Muhammad Ilham Shaputra, 23, revealed the whereabouts of the 39 remaining militants, which may include some yet unidentified Malaysians and Indonesians.
He was found with a handgun and fragmentation grenade after trying to escape by swimming in the city’s lake.
On the same day, two terrorists including one known as Abu Talha, a former trusted aide to Isnilon Hapilon, the slain Southeast Asia emir-designate of the Islamic State (IS), were killed during a clearing operation in Marawi.
Ranao Joint Task Force deputy commander Col Romeo Brawner Jr today said security agencies are currently verifying Ilham’s claim of militants still holed up in the battle area.
More than 1,100 people, mostly militants, were killed in the five-month battle which started on May 23.
However, according to the Philippine military, the remains of 700 terrorists and civilians have yet to be found.
There are fears that some of these unaccounted militants may have escaped the authorities’ dragnet.
Malaysian terrorists had bigger role to play in Marawi than in Syria, Iraq