The Philippine military said that in the battle of Marawi fight against them including women and children. About it reports Reuters.
“We moved on to the final stage of the operation, and we therefore expect that the fighting will become even more intense and bloody, explained Lieutenant-General Carlito Galvez, the, one of the senior commanders leading the attack. — So we can suffer heavy losses — the enemy is fighting more and more desperate. Our troops report that on the battlefield seen women and kids who shoot at our soldiers — I guess they decided to stay with the militants to end.”
According to Galves, rather, it is the families of the Islamists. The General also said that the leaders of the militants — Mariam, the leader of the group “Mouth”, and Hapilon steering “Abu Sayyaf”, — are still in Marawi and lead the resistance.
On may 23 fighters of groups “the Mouth” and “Abu Sayyaf”, sworn allegiance to the “Islamic state” (IG banned in Russia), captured the city of Marawi on the Philippine island of Mindanao. The next day the military moved reinforcements and launched a counterattack. In the offensive, government forces actively used armored vehicles and aircraft supporting the infantry in the street fighting.
Initially, the Philippine military claimed that the liberation of the city from the terrorists they will need a few days. However, optimistic forecasts are not met. During the fighting, which has continued to the present, has killed about 800 people, mostly militants.