MANILA, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- At least three more soldiers have been killed and 52 others wounded in the fight between government forces and rebels in the southern Philippine city of Marawi, where 30 to 40 pro-ISIS militants still hold out, a local radio report said on Friday.
Quoting military spokesman Jo-ann Petinglay, radio DZBB reported that that soldiers were killed on Thursday. "The soldiers sustained wounds from exploding improvised explosive devices (IEDs)," it said.
In a separate interview, the military also said a final plan to crush holdover Maute militants in Marawi City is in place and will be implemented soon.
Col. Romeo Brawner, the deputy commander of the Joint Task Force Marawi, said the government security forces are extremely careful in implementing the "final push" to completely crush the extremists that pledged allegiance to Islamic State.
Brawner stressed the need to carefully plan the offensive to ensure the safety of the government forces and the undetermined number of civilians who were taken hostage by the militants.
He added that there are indications that the militants will use the hostages, including a Roman Catholic priest, as "human shields or as suicide bombers."
The military is hoping the conflict could end in less than a month.
The conflict broke out on May 23. It has so far killed more than 800 people and displaced more than 500,000 civilians.
