Troops try to retake Marawi

MANILA: Troops backed by attack helicopters battled dozens of militants linked to the Islamic State (IS) group holed up in a besieged city in the southern Philippines yesterday after attempts to secure volatile areas met heavy resistance.

The army sent about 100 soldiers, including US-trained special forces, to retake buildings and streets in mainly Muslim Marawi City held by militants of the Maute group, which has pledged allegiance to IS.

Thousands fled as rebels seized large parts of the city and torched buildings in running battles with government forces that erupted on Tuesday after a failed raid by security forces on an insurgent hideout.

At least 21 people – seven government troops, 13 militants and one civilian – have been killed since then.

“We’re confronting maybe 30 to 40 remaining from the local terrorist group,” said Jo-Ar Herrera, a spokesman for the military’s First Infantry Regiment.

“The military is conducting precise, surgical operations to flush them out. The situation is very fluid and movements are dynamic because we wanted to out-step and out-manoeuvre them,” he said.

The military sent in two helicopters with machine guns to flush out rebels and take control of the bridge, one of three operations in the city.

Trucks were being sent to evacuate any remaining civilians.

The Maute had taken more than a dozen hostages and set free 107 prisoners from two jails since Tuesday. The status of the captives was unknown. – Reuters