Thirteen Philippine marines were killed in fierce fighting with militants who have laid siege to southern Marawi city for almost a month in the biggest single-day loss for government forces, the military said on Saturday.
The Philippines military emphasized the United States is providing technical assistance, and not boots on the ground, in the country. It is now in its third week.
The cooperation between the longtime allies is significant because Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, who came to power a year ago, has taken a hostile stance towards Washington and has vowed to eject U.S. military trainers and advisers from his country.
Earlier, 13 Filipino marines were killed as they conducted a house-to-house search for militants allied with Islamic State.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a USA official said support included aerial surveillance and targeting, electronic eavesdropping, communications assistance and training.
The US Embassy said Washington would "continue to work with the Philippines to address shared threats to the peace and security of our countries, including on counter-terrorism issues" in its statement on Saturday. Thirteen marines, including an officer, were killed when they ran into dozens of gunmen who rained rocket-propelled grenades on them and set off improvised explosive devices.
Brigadier-General Restituto Padilla, the military spokesman, said last Friday that the Philippine flag would be flying all over Marawi by tomorrow, the Philippine independence day.
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Hundreds of thousands of people have fled the city, parts of which were reduced to rubble by fighting and government airstrikes in an attempt to dislodge the rebels.
Forty other marines were wounded.
The heavy fighting occurred as police arrested the mother of two brothers leading the militants, who come from different local groups that have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State terrorist movement.
The seizure of Marawi City on May 23 has alarmed Southeast Asian nations which fear that Islamic State - facing setbacks in Syria and Iraq - is establishing a stronghold on the Philippine island of Mindanao that could threaten the whole region.
Security officials confirmed for the first time the presence of the American forces yesterday as they told reporters that two of the militants' leaders had likely been killed.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, the designated administrator of martial law, has ordered the arrest of almost 200 militants, politicians and other suspected civilian backers of the unprecedented uprising in Marawi, the mosque-studded heartland of Islamic faith in the south of the predominantly Roman Catholic nation.
Reports suggest the Maute brothers, Abdullah Maute and Omarkhayam Maute, were also killed.
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