MARAWI, Philippines — The houses still standing after more than three months of fierce urban combat in Marawi are barely holding on — pocked with bullet holes on the outside and blackened by fire from within.

“I really can’t say when we will be able to finish this,” said Brig. Gen. Melquiades Ordiales, with the Philippine Marines. A cackle of small-arms fire and the thuds of mortar shell explosions could be heard in the distance as soldiers targeted another pocket of militant fighters.

Rubble and debris had been swept from the street around him, making room for a large group of journalists, including three from The New York Times, who were allowed to visit a newly recaptured part of the city this week.

With the battle now past the 100-day mark, it was the first time in months that the military had allowed the press in. And though the tour was tightly choreographed, there was no hiding either the profound destruction from airstrikes and artillery barrages, or the fact that the fighting remains intense. Just Thursday, three soldiers were reported killed, and 52 more were injured.