"Out of 96 barangays (neighbourhoods), they are holding portions in Marinaut, Lulut, Mapandi and Bongolo Commercial District, which only comprise 20 percent of the whole Marawi City ... and its getting smaller everyday", he said.
THE Islamic State on Tuesday called on its followers all over the world to launch more attacks during the holy month of Ramadan as it praised jihadist attacks in the Philippines, claiming that its fighters had spread through two-thirds of Marawi City.
Asked to comment on how much of the lakeside town was still occupied as the siege entered its fourth week, Lieutenant General Carlito Galvez, head of military command in Western Mindanao, told Reuters it was 20 percent.
Fighting in the city has left a total of 58 soldiers and police and more than 20 civilians dead, the military said, estimating that nearly 200 militants have been killed.
They include several militant groups pledging allegiance to the Islamic State in 2014, and the group releasing its first video about the Philippines in June 2016, according to a new report released by the U.S. Military Academy's Combating Terrorism Center.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law May 23 on Mindanao, hundreds of people have been killed, and most residents have fled.
Asked to comment about the involvement of USA special forces in the fight in Marawi, particularly "China's opinion on this United States intervention in the Philippines", Mr. Lu said: "Regarding the measures and policies adopted by the Philippine government in combating terrorism, we have talked about our position many times".
Meanwhile, the need for US military support to bolster the Filipino army's slow progress in liberating Marwai, is in stark contrast to Duterte's string of insults aimed at Washington and American politicians by the fiery president.
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Perched on buildings, some connected by tunnels that gave them mobility, the snipers have made it hard for troops to wrest back areas under the rebels' control.
He attacked the US over atrocities under American colonial rule and said troops stationed in the south of the country have impeded counter-insurgency efforts against the Islamic-State linked group Aby Sayyaf.
Indonesia's military chief, Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo, said late on Monday that he and Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu would meet next week with their counterparts from Malaysia and the Philippines on Indonesia's Tarakan island in northern Borneo, just across the border from Sabah, Malaysia.
The terrorists at the outset of their attack planted black IS flags, took the city's vicar and many people hostage, and set fire to establishments.
Earlier, Solicitor-General Jose Calida said the government already received information that the Maute group had planned to raze Marawi City and hoist the ISIS flag over it and declare the city an Islamic territory on May 26. "They were actually monitoring everything", Abella said.
"We do not want to speculate, we hope they come out soon", Sindac said.
Army troops failed to capture Hapilon in the raid, which sparked a gunbattle in a Marawi village, but military officials said the assault forced the gunmen to prematurely start their attack aimed at occupying the Islamic city of more than 200,000 people. They escaped through a back door, but five were shot dead, eight were captured and only five made it to safety at the river. Some fear that the temporary martial law order in Mindanao could be expanded nationwide, an idea Mr Duterte has openly toyed with so that he could use the military in his anti-drug campaign. Reuters was not able to independently confirm the authenticity of the video.
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