13 Filipino marines die in clash with militants

MANILA — Thirteen Philippine marines were killed and at least 40 others were wounded in a 14-hour clash with militants linked to the Islamic State in the city of Marawi, the military said Saturday.

It was believed to be the deadliest single-day toll for military forces battling Islamist militants from the Abu Sayyaf and Maute groups that seized part of the city in May, beginning a wave of violence across Marawi and displacing tens of thousands of Filipinos.

The battle erupted at dawn Friday after the marines targeted militants holding several civilian hostages, and the fighting stretched into dusk. The clashes were still continuing Saturday, said Col. Edgard Arevalo, a military spokesman.

“The marines were able to inflict heavy casualties to the terrorist group,” Arevalo said.

The militants’ siege has become the greatest test of the year-old presidency of Rodrigo Duterte, who previously dismissed the Maute group as bandits who could be easily defeated. The fighting led Duterte to impose martial law over the southern Philippines in May.

Though the Philippine president had vowed to end an alliance with the United States, his government has sought the aid of U.S. Special Forces to try to end the Marawi siege.

In a statement Saturday, the U.S. Embassy said, “At the request of the government of the Philippines, U.S. special operations forces are assisting the (Filipino military) with ongoing operations in Marawi.”

Philippine troops have been battling to clear Marawi since May 23, when the militants — led by Isnilon Hapilon, the head of Abu Sayyaf, and backed by members of the Maute group and the foreign fighters supporting them — laid siege to the area. But the insurgents have broken up into small groups and have proved elusive.

Hapilon is the de facto leader of the Islamic State in the Philippines, while the Maute group, led by two brothers, has been linked to a series of bombings in the restive south, including one targeting a night market in Duterte’s southern hometown that killed 15 people in September.