[Inquirer] Philippine troops continued to meet resistance as they pushed deeper into four villages with holdouts of Maute militants who wanted to turn Marawi into an Islamic State vassal. Ground troops, backed by helicopters and bombers, pushed farther inward into areas of the city where the rebel remnants are holed up.Artillery fire targeted Maute positions in the villages of Marianut, Lilod, Raya Madaya and Bangolo as security forces tried to complete their mission to retake the city.
In a statement on Saturday, Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said the government had lost 93 men in its war on Maute militants as of Friday. The figure included policemen and soldiers killed in two cases of “friendly fire". He said more areas are being cleared and the number of insurgents killed has reached 399.
Joint Task Force Marawi spokesperson Jo-ar Herrera said on Saturday that soldiers are continuing efforts to rescue civilians still trapped in the battle zone. At least 2,000 civilians were believed to have been trapped in the main zone of fighting since May 23. Herrera said at least 1,723 had already been rescued as of Friday.