Philippines police officers perform Eid al-Fitr prayers outside a mosque inside city hall compound as government forces continue their assault against insurgents from the Maute group, who have taken over large parts of Marawi City , Philippines June 25, 2017. REUTERS/Jorge Silva
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Philippine army on Sunday, June 25, declares an eight-hour ceasefire in its strike against militants occupying Marawi. The temporary truce is aimed at giving residents a time to celebrate the end of Ramadan or the Eid al-Fitr day.
The Military chief Gen. Eduardo Ano announced on Saturday that his troops will implement a "humanitarian pause" during the Eid for the people of Marawi, a Muslim city in the predominantly Catholic Philippine.
"We declare a lull in our current operations in the city on that day as a manifestation of our high respect for the Islamic faith," Ano said as quoted by the Straits Times.
For over five weeks, Marawi has endured a fierce battle between the government's forces and the Maute militants linked with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
