Seventeen bodies believed to be civilians killed by the ISIS-linked Maute terror group were found during retrieval operations in war-torn Marawi City on Wednesday, the military said.

The bodies were recovered by the military together with Philippine National Police, Bureau of Fire Protection, and civilian volunteers conducting retrieval operations in Barangay Gadungan at 11:40 a.m., Joint Task Force (JTF) Marawi commander BGen. Rolando Joselito Bautista said in a statement.

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“The recovered cadavers are believed to be among those civilians who were helplessly murdered by the Maute/ASG terrorists,” he said.

The Philippine National Police is undertaking procedures to identify the bodies for proper disposition and identification of the cadavers so that their relatives can claim them and provide them a decent burial, he added.

Lt. Col. Jo-ar Herrera, spokesperson of JTF Marawi, told reporters they have yet to determine if all the bodies recovered were 17.

“Ang ina-undertake ngayon is baka less than 17 kasi nasa state of decomposition na. ‘Yung iba buto na lang, matagal na eh (What we’re undertaking now is maybe the number is less than 17 because they’re already in the state of decomposition. Some are already bones because it’s already been some time),” he said. JE

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