89 gunmen killed in Marawi as Prez says will not talk to militants

Marawi, May 31: Philippines security forces have killed 89 Islamist militants during more than a week of fighting in a southern city but the gunmen are still offering strong resistance and holding hostages, the military said on Wednesday.

Attack helicopters fired rockets repeatedly on Wednesday morning into the pockets of Marawi where the militants were hiding among trapped residents. The clashes erupted on Tuesday last week when gunmen waving black flags of the ISIS rampaged through the mostly Muslimpopulated city in response to an effort by security forces to arrest a Filipino on the US government’s list of most-wanted terrorists.

That militant leader, Isnilon Hapilon, escaped but he was still believed to be in Marawi, military spokesman BrigadierGeneral Restituto Padilla said on Wednesday.

Eighty-nine militants had been killed in the efforts to reclaim the city and find Hapilon, Mr Padilla said.

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said on Wednesday he would not talk to Muslim rebels fighting the military and occupying parts of a southern city, and that he was determined to keep the ISIS out of the country.

Mr Duterte’s latest remarks on the crisis in Marawi City is a change in stance from last week, when he urged Maute militants to talk with him.