Soldiers from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) gather for an assault against the Maute militant group in Lanao Del Sur Province, the Philippines, May 25, 2017. The Philippine armed forces continued conducting surgical operations on Thursday to flush out up to 40 remnants of the Maute militant group that remain in the besieged southern Philippine city of Marawi, a military spokesman has said. (Xinhua/STRINGER)
MANILA, May 25 (Xinhua) -- The Philippine armed forces continued conducting surgical operations on Thursday to flush out up to 40 remnants of the Maute militant group that remain in the besieged southern Philippine city of Marawi, a military spokesman has said.
"Sporadic fighting continues. The clearing operations continue to flush out the remnants of the local terrorist group. There is no let-up," Lt. Col. Jo-ar Herrera said, adding the operations are focusing on specific targets in at least three villages in the city.
"We are conducting very precise and deliberate surgical operations," he told reporters.
Herrera said that there are still "sightings" of the presence of Islamic fighters in the city.
He said about 30 to 40 militants are hiding in some establishments and using the community or residents as shields to avoid the troops.
"We are using surgical airstrikes and calling on the residents to leave the villages where there are reported presence of terrorists," he said.
Herrera said the military "wants to finish the fight as soon as possible."
He said the militants are just roaming around in some parts of the city.
"They don't stay in one place. They are occupying buildings with strategic value. They are acting like residents want to distract the troops. They want to create diversionary attacks to mislead the focused military operations," Herrera said.
"These are desperate moves that they are doing now in a bid to mislead the troops. That's why we are very focused in our operations," he said.
However, Herrera could not say whether there are foreign fighters involved in Marawi attack.
He said there are reports about possible collusion of local terrorists with foreign jihadists.
Herrera also confirmed news reports that some of the residents hid in the hospital supply rooms to avoid being detected by the militants.
"We recovered 46 medical staff who hid in the hospital supply room," he said.
So far, he said 13 alleged Maute militants have been killed but added that only two bodies were retrieved.
Local media have uploaded pictures showing at least two vehicles roaming the streets of Marawi City on Tuesday displaying the black flag and insignia Islamic State (IS).
The news reports said the city residents took to social media to post photos and videos of the armed men roaming freely in the city streets.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declared on Tuesday night martial law for 60 days on the island of Mindanao and nearby island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi after clashes between the army and militants with alleged link to IS in Marawi, a city in Lanao del Sur province in the southern Philippines.
So far, the military said five army soldiers and two police officers have been killed and at least 33 others wounded in the ongoing clashes.
The Maute group has attacked army troops and police jails and also carried out several bombings and kidnappings in the southern Mindanao region.
The group has pledged allegiance to IS, although the Philippine military says there is no evidence of active cooperation with foreign militants.
