A few militants fight on in Philippine city ripped to shreds

Smoke wafted from the smoldering carcasses of buildings and houses, with the dome of a mosque blasted out with holes, as Philippine troops battled Thursday to defeat a final stand by the last dozens of pro-Islamic State group militants in a southern city.

A Philippine Navy commando aboard a gunboat keeps watch of the "Main Battle Area" as they patrol the periphery of Lake Lanao where pro-Islamic group militants are making a final stand amid a massive military offensive of Marawi city in southern Philippines Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

The desolate war scene, witnessed by Associated Press journalists on board a navy patrol gunboat in Lake Lanao, could herald what the government hopes will be the end of a nearly five-month siege by the militants in Marawi city.

Philippine Navy commandos aboard a gunboat patrol Lake Lanao as smoke rises from the area where pro-Islamic group militants are making a final stand amid a massive military offensive of Marawi city in southern Philippines, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017.(AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Filipino troops killed 13 more suspected militants Wednesday night, including one believed to be a top Malaysian terror suspect although his body hasn't been recovered yet, military officials said.

"Our troops are continuing their assault," army Col. Romeo Brawner said after his news conference in Marawi was disrupted by loud explosions reverberating from the final area of battle, about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) away. About 20 to 30 militants continue to fight back, he said.

Smoke rises from the area where pro-Islamic group militants are making a final stand amid a massive military offensive with government troops in Marawi city in southern Philippines Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

While troops pressed their assault with artillery and gunfire, officers used loudspeakers to ask the militants, many of them positioned in a bullet-pocked two-story building, to surrender. The building stands on a pier by the lake near a huge gunfire-scarred welcome sign that says "I (love) Marawi."

Sporadic fighting continued even after President Rodrigo Duterte visited the Islamic city on Tuesday and announced its liberation, sparking hopes that hundreds of thousands of residents could begin returning home. The speed of their return, however, will depend on how quickly the city is declared safe of militants and rebuilt.

Armored Personnel Carriers are positioned near the bullet-riddled "I Love Marawi" landmark sign, center, at the "Main Battle Area" where pro-Islamic group militants are making a final stand amid a massive military offensive of Marawi city in southern Philippines Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017.  (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Volunteers and displaced residents have begun a government-led cleanup in neighborhoods that were declared safe. Power has been restored in more than half of the lakeside city, along with water supply, officials said.

On Monday, the defense secretary and military chief of staff announced that two of the last leaders of the siege — Isnilon Hapilon, who is one of the FBI's most-wanted terror suspects, and Omarkhayam Maute — were killed in a gunbattle.

Philippine troops head back to the devastated village of Mapandi which has been cleared of Islamic State group-linked militants in Marawi city in southern Philippines Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Their deaths were the turning point that partly convinced the president he could declare Marawi liberated from the gunmen, Brawner told the AP.

Military spokesman Maj. Gen. Restituto Padilla said Malaysian Mahmud bin Ahmad was believed among 13 militants killed overnight and another seven in the morning. Six soldiers were slightly wounded in the fighting.

Volunteers pray in the middle of an abandoned street as they take part in a massive clean-up after being cleared of Islamic State group-linked militants in Marawi city in southern Philippines Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017.(AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Two civilian hostages — a mother and her teenage daughter — were also rescued, Padilla said.

The information about Mahmud was based on what the rescued mother and daughter told the military, Padilla said.

Mahmud, who uses nom de guerre Abu Handzalah, is a close associate of Hapilon. Military officials said he had linked up Hapilon with the Islamic State group and provided funding to bankroll the siege of Marawi.

Volunteers take part in a massive clean-up of battle-scarred village of Mapandi after being cleared of Islamic State group-linked militants in Marawi city in southern Philippines Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Padilla said troops discovered that there may be more militant fighters remaining in a small battle area than earlier estimated.

Marawi, a mosque-studded center of Islamic faith in the predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines, has been devastated by the siege by the militants who waved IS-style black flags and hung them on buildings they had occupied in Marawi's business district and outlying areas, according to the military.

Philippine troops on board their Armored Personnel Carrier head to the "Main Battle Area" in a continuing operation where pro-Islamic group militants are making a final stand amid a massive military offensive of Marawi city in southern Philippines Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

The insurrection prompted the military to launch a ground offensive and airstrikes, with the United States and Australia later backing the troops by deploying surveillance aircraft. Duterte declared martial law across the south, the homeland of minority Muslims and the scene of a decades-old separatist rebellion, to deal with the uprising and prevent other insurgents from waging attacks elsewhere and reinforcing the fighters in Marawi.

The surprise occupation of the city and the involvement of foreign fighters set off alarms in Southeast Asia. Analysts said parts of the southern Philippines were at risk of becoming a new base for IS as it lost territory to international forces in Iraq and Syria.

Philippine Navy commandos aboard a gunboat patrol the periphery of Lake Lanao as smoke rises from the "Main Battle Area" where pro-Islamic group militants are making a final stand amid a massive military offensive of Marawi city in southern Philippines Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017.(AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Some of the residents who returned to Marawi for the cleanup Thursday became emotional after seeing their devastated city and homes. Esnairah Macabunar saw weeds growing around her two-story house but became more stunned when she went inside and realized her home had been ransacked.

"Everything was stolen in my house," she said. "I am still shaken because I cannot accept what happened, my whole life savings are gone."

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine authorities raided a suspected illegal online gaming and cyberscam complex in a central province and took into custody more than 160 people — mostly Chinese and Indonesians — who were committing internet-based crimes, officials said Sunday.

The raid on Saturday by more than 100 government agents, backed by military intelligence, on a resort compound in Lapu-Lapu city was part of an ongoing crackdown after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered a ban in July on widespread — and mostly Chinese-run — online gaming operations that cater mostly to clients in China, where illegal gambling is banned.

Marcos said then that the massive illegal gambling operations have ignored Philippine laws with largescale violations of regulations and also committed other crimes, including financial scams, human trafficking, torture, kidnappings and murder.

The raid at the Tourist Garden Resort, which has 10 buildings with swimming pools, karaoke bars and restaurants, came after the Indonesian Embassy in Manila requested the rescue of eight Indonesians who were reportedly forced to work in the online gaming hub, according to the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission.

At least 162 foreign nationals “were found working in three separate scam farms within the compound," the commission said without elaborating. Such crimes include fraudulent love, gaming and investment schemes online that have defrauded victims of large amounts of money, according to Philippine officials.

The 83 Chinese, 70 Indonesians, 6 Myanmar nationals, 2 Taiwanese and a Malaysian will be flown to Manila to face an investigation by the Bureau of Immigration and possible deportation, it added.

The owner of the hotel compound was arrested and could face criminal complaints, including for harboring illegally staying foreigners, the commission and immigration officials said.

“We will suggest to the authorities to file cases against resort owners who allow their properties to be used by illegal aliens in their covert operations,” Tansingco said. “This will serve as a warning to those who might attempt to start illegal online gambling operations.”

Marcos’s move to ban the Chinese-run online gambling outfits — estimated to number more than 400 across the Philippines and believed to be employing tens of thousands of Chinese and Southeast Asian nationals — was welcomed by Beijing.

It has led to the shutdown of several sprawling complexes where authorities suspect thousands of Chinese, Vietnamese, Indonesians and others mostly from Southeast Asia have been illegally recruited and forced to work in oppressive conditions.

Philippine authorities have also been tracking down a dismissed mayor of a small town in Tarlac province north of Manila, Alice Guo, who apparently left the country in July after the Philippine Senate ordered her arrest after she failed to appear at public hearings where allegations against her were being investigated, including her alleged links to a large online gambling complex near the town hall.

She has also been accused of fraudulently hiding her Chinese nationality to be able to run for a public office that is reserved for Filipino citizens.

Guo, who is believed to be hiding in Indonesia, has denied any wrongdoing but has been dismissed from her post for grave misconduct by the Ombudsman, an agency that investigates and prosecutes government officials accused of crimes, including graft and corruption.

Philippine senators say the massive online gambling industry has flourished across the country largely due to corruption in government regulatory agencies and big payoffs to officials.

In this photo provided by the Bureau of Immigration, Philippine authorities, wearing red bib or black shirt, monitor activities during a raid on a suspected illegal online gaming and cyberscam complex in Lapu-Lapu city, Cebu province, central Philippines Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (Bureau of Immigration via AP)