Marawi City: Philippine troops on Monday tightened security in areas adjacent to a southern city besieged by militants, amid fears the gunmen were attempting to flee and sow terror in nearby towns.
More residents were fleeing the city of Marawi, 800 kilometres south of Manila, where dead bodies reportedly litter the streets of districts that were still under the control of the militants.
“Residents trapped in their homes are continuing to send text messages asking for help and rescue,” said Saripada Pacasum Jr,assistant head of the provincial disaster risk reduction office.
“They told us that bodies are scattered on the streets,” he added.
Pacasum said humanitarian teams were able to conduct small operations to rescue trapped civilians and retrieve some cadavers but many areas were still not accessible.
“It’s really important to secure everybody,” he said.
Some residents have become desperate to rescue their relatives. One volunteer at the provincial office went inside the conflict zone with two rescue vehicles, speeding past a blockade of soldiers and police officers.
The troops fired at the vehicles to stop them, prompting the militants to shot back.
The vehicles safely returned with two elderly residents, including the grandfather of Khanaanuar Marabur Jr, the humanitarian volunteer.
“We risked our lives to save our grandfather because he had been asking us to rescue him,” Marabur told reporters as troops held them to check on the identities of his relatives.
“This war is taking long so get me out of here alive and not dead,”he quoted one of the text messages of his grandfather, as mortar fire and gunfire rang out nearby.
In the adjacent city of Iligan, where most of the evacuees were heading to, the army ordered a “lock down” to prevent the militants from hiding among the displaced, said Colonel Alex Aduca, an infantry battalion commander. “We are intensifying our security operations,” he said from Iligan. — dpa
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