MARAWI CITY – The Philippine military said it is getting surrender feelers from local ISIS militants as fighting continues Sunday in the war-ravaged city of Marawi where security forces were trying to dislodged heavily-armed militants from their strongholds.
Army Colonel Romeo Brawner Jr. said they were expecting more to surrender peacefully as troops advance in the city’s center where most of the militants are hiding among heavily-fortified structures and mosques. He did not say how many intend to surrender.
While fighting rages on, military propagandists, armed with loud speakers, continue also their “psychological operation” aimed at convincing militants to abandon their struggle and surrender peacefully. It was not immediately known whether those who wanted to yield were hard core members or civilians forced to fight.
The military also insisted that nearly 700 militants had died since fighting began on May 23, but most of this figure was based on intelligence report and not body counts, although over 150 soldiers perished in the battle with over 2,000 troops wounded in the clashes. At least 45 civilians also died in the senseless war.
ISIS fighters occupied Marawi in a failed bid to make it a province of the Islamic State in the troubled Muslim autonomous region. (Mindanao Examiner)
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