Helicopters and special forces used against Maute fighters, who have held the city on Mindanao island for two days

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

The Philippines military has mobilised attack helicopters and special forces to drive Islamic State-linked rebels out of a besieged southern city. Six soldiers have so far been killed in street combat amid the heavy resistance that has followed.

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Ground troops hid behind walls and armoured vehicles and exchanged volleys of gunfire with Maute group fighters, shooting into elevated positions occupied by militants, who have held the city of Marawi on Mindanao island for two days.

Helicopters circled the city, peppering Maute positions with machine-gun fire to try to force them from a bridge vital to retaking Marawi, a mainly Muslim city of 200,000 where fighters have taken more than a dozen hostages and burned down and seized a school, a jail and a cathedral.

“Our troops are doing deliberate operations in areas we believe are still occupied or infested with the terrorist presence,” said the head of the task force, Brigadier General Rolly Bautista.

The battles with the Maute group, which has pledged allegiance to Islamic State, started on Tuesday during a failed raid by security forces on one of the group’s hideouts that spiralled into chaos. Eighteen rebels were killed on Thursday, the army said.

The turmoil prompted the president, Rodrigo Duterte, to deliver on his longstanding threat to impose martial law on Mindanao, the country’s second-largest island. “If there’s an open defiance, you will die,” he said on Wednesday. “And if it means many people dying, so be it.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Smoke rises near a public market in Marawi. Photograph: Ted Aljibe/AFP/Getty Images

Islamic State claimed responsibility late on Wednesday for Maute’s activities via its Amaq news agency.

At least 46 people – 15 members of the security forces and 31 rebels – have been killed, and religious leaders say militants were using Christians taken hostage during the fighting as human shields. The status of the hostages was not known.

The White House condemned the Maute group as “cowardly terrorists” and said the United States was a proud ally of the Philippines and backed its fight against extremism.

Hundreds of civilians sheltered in a military camp in Marawi as troops helped clear the few remaining people from streets where smoke lingered in the air.

“We’re leaving,” said a resident named Edith, walking along a rundown street carrying a small suitcase. “We can no longer take it and we need to save our children.“

Sultan Haji Ismael Demasala said he was staying and would leave his fate in God’s hands. “If Allah wills it so, then we cannot stop it,” he said, pointing his finger in the air.

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Marawi is located in Lanao del Sur province, a stronghold of the Maute, a fierce but little-known group that has proved a tricky opponent for the military. Military leaders say the Maute’s motivation for taking the city was to raise its profile and earn recognition from Isis.

Tuesday’s raid was aimed at capturing Isnilon Hapilon, a leader of radical faction of another militant group, the Abu Sayyaf. The government says Hapilon is a point man for Isis in the Philippines and has been collaborating with the Maute leaders. “Based on our intelligence, Isnilon Hapilon is still in the city,” said Jo-Ar Herrera, spokesman for the First Infantry Regiment.

The president held a cabinet meeting on Thursday in Davao, his home city and the biggest on Mindanao. Duterte is familiar with Muslim separatist unrest but alarmed by the prospect of rebels helping Isis to recruit and establish a presence in the volatile region of 22 million people.