Alwaght- The Philippines military is close to liberate Marawi city from ISIS terrorists, military spokesman said Monday.
"Our ground commanders have assured that the end is almost there," Restituto Padilla told reporters, adding terrorists may be getting help from "sympathetic elements" and fighters they had freed from jail during the rampage.
The clashes in the southern city with the Maute militant group, which has pledged allegiance to ISIS, started seven days ago when dozens of gunmen went on a rampage throughout Marawi after security forces attempted to arrest Isnilon Hapilon, a veteran Filipino extremist regarded as the local leader of ISIS.
Militants are resisting air and ground assaults and are still in control of nine of the city's 96 communities of a city of 200,000 people.
"We can control who comes in and who comes out, who moves around and who doesn't. And we're trying to isolate all these pockets of resistance," military spokesman told.
More than 100 people have been killed, most of them militants, according to the military, and most of the city's residents have fled.
The Maute group's ability to fight off the military for so long will add to fears that ISIS radical ideology is spreading in the southern Philippines and it could become a haven for militants from Indonesia, Malaysia and beyond.
