The Philippine troops are battling out a fierce firefight with the last remnants of a pro-Islamic state alliance. This battle will determine the country’s biggest internal security crisis in years.
An estimated 30 people, including militants and some of their family members, were battling to hold a fortified, two-storey building next to Marawi City’s vast Lake Lanao, and appeared ready to fight to the death, according to the deputy commander of the operation.
“We believe these are ones who decided to fight it out, because they believe that if they die there they will go to Heaven.” Colonel Romeo Brawner told a news conference.
Brawner said soldiers were still using loudspeakers to urge them to surrender to avoid loss of life for both sides. They also anticipate the gunfight to continue until midnight. They did not know how many people in the building were alive or dead, he said.
The siege of Marawi has stunned the Philippines and stoked wider concerns that Islamic State loyalists have learned how to thrive in impoverished Muslim areas of the island of Mindanao and use its jungles and mountains as staging posts to launch attacks.
Those fears are compounded by the Marawi rebels’ ability to recruit young fighters, stockpile huge amounts of arms and endure five months of ground offensive and government air strikes that have devastated the city.
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