MARAWI CITY // Militants holding parts of the southern Philippine city of Marawi have been cornered and their firepower is flagging after five weeks of fighting, the military said on Thursday.
Despite signs that the insurgents are now on the back foot, South-East Asian governments are worried that the siege could be just the prelude to further violence as ISIL tries to establish a foothold in their region.
Jolted by the May 23 attack on Marawi, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines have launched joint patrols to control the movement of militants across islands in the region and their foreign ministers gathered in Manila on Thursday for talks.
Malaysia is worried that militants who are flushed out of Marawi City may try to cross from the Philippines to its eastern state of Sabah.
“We fear that they may enter the country disguised as illegal immigrants or foreign fishermen,” said Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) chief Wan Abdul Bari Wan Abdul Khalid, according to state news agency Bernama.
It said Esscom had drawn up a “wanted” list that included two militants who spearheaded the attempt to capture Marawi.
They are Abu Sayyaf group leader Isnilon Hapilon, who was proclaimed by ISIL last year as its “emir” of South-East Asia, and Abdullah Maute, whose followers accounted for a large number of the estimated 400-500 fighters who overran part of the town, killing Christians and taking dozens of civilians hostage.
The fighting in Marawi broke out on May 23.
The Philippine military said on Thursday the number of militants holding out in Marawi had dwindled to “a little over 100”.
“Their area has been reduced to one square kilometre only,” said Lt Col Christopher Tampus, whose troops are blocking escape routes across bridges spanning a river to the west of the militants.
“Our forces are coming from the east and the north and we are blocking the three bridges,” he said.
Lt Col Tampus said militant snipers were still firing from “strategic nests” in schools and mosques, and home-made bombs were hampering the progress of troops as they advanced house by house.
He said he had seen at least five civilians dressed in black who appeared to have been forced to stand in the street as human shields.
According to the latest official estimates, 369 people have been killed during a month of fighting, three-quarters of them militants. The number of security forces and civilians killed stood at 67 and 26, respectively.
* Reuters