Residents take shelter under an evacuation center near a military camp in Lanao Del Sur Province, the Philippines, June 2, 2017. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)
MANILA, June 6 (Xinhua) -- The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has appealed to the Philippine military and the militants clashing in the southern Philippine Marawi city to spare the civilians, the agency said on Tuesday.
The ICRC said civilian lives were at stake as the number of casualties continued to grow.
"We are extremely concerned about the residents who could not leave their homes because of the fighting, and also those who are being reportedly held against their will," Pascal Porchet, head of the delegation of the ICRC in the Philippines said, adding the agency was "deeply worried about reports of civilians being killed."
"We urge all those involved in the fighting to protect civilian lives, and are hopeful that those held against their will are being treated humanely and will be released," Porchet said.
He said the aid agency "stands ready to serve as a neutral intermediary to evacuate civilians caught between the fighting,"
The ICRC said around 200,000 people have fled the hostilities in Marawi City, seeking safety in evacuation centers or with relatives. "The need for food, clean water, health care and sanitation is going as authorities try to cope with the sudden influx of evacuees," the ICRC said.
The ICRC, with the Philippine Red Cross, has been on the ground since the fighting broke out May 23, providing relief items to thousands of displaced families, and enhanced their access to clean water and health care.
"Together with the Philippine Red Cross, the ICRC has distributed 10,000 displaced people, provided an equal number of people with access to clean water, and enhanced the capacity of the six local health facilities to provide basic health care to thousands of people though the donation of medical supplies," the ICRC said.
Residents take shelter under an evacuation center near a military camp in Lanao Del Sur Province, the Philippines, June 2, 2017. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)
Porchet said the agency has started conducting full assessment of the conditions of displaced people in hard-to-reach evacuations centers to give the agency a better picture of the humanitarian needs.
"We hope to also assess the western and eastern parts of Lanao Lake once the security situation allows us to do so," referring to the villages around the besiege city of more than 200,000 people.
The ICRC said limited food and clean water supply, as well as access to sanitation facilities, remain to be the most urgent humanitarian needs in evacuation centers.
The agency also expressed concern that some of the evacuation centers in nearby Iligan City are underserved due to the surge in the number of displaced people and limited personnel. In fact, it said some areas on the west and east side of Lake Lanao are not served at all.
The ICRC has been actively supporting authorities in the management of dead bodies. It has donated 160 body bags, as well as gloves and masks, to help the authorities with the proper retrieval of the bodies.
The ICRC has also been negotiating for safe access to trapped civilians in Marawi by engaging in a constant dialogue with all parties to the conflict.
However, it said the current security situation does not yet allow the ICRC to bring them all to safety. It has, however, transported nearly 600 people from Marawi City to the Saguiaran evacuation center or even as far as Iligan.
The military has been battling the IS-lnked militants since May 23 in Marawi City in Lanao del Sur province, forcing thousands of the residents to flee.
The military said on Tuesday there are still an estimated 500 civilians trapped in the city.
Much of the city's center has been destroyed as airstrikes continue to flush out about 100 militants, including foreign IS cadres.
The military said the militants want to establish a "wilayat" or caliphate of IS in Lanao del Sur.
The ongoing clashes in the city forced Duterte to place the entire Mindanao region under martial law.
