ISIS militants have gone a sacrilegious rampage, smashing statues and setting fire to a church building in footage purportedly filmed in a besieged city in the southern Philippines.

The jihadis gleefully topple crucifixes, stamp on posters of Pope Francis and destroy effigies in the church, believed to be located in the city of Marawi, southern Philippines.

The video was first published by ISIS's Amaq News Agency.

Philippine soldiers are battling to recapture the town of Marawi from the militants, and clashes have already left at least 178 dead, including 20 civilians.

At least 120 militants and 38 soldiers and policemen are also believed to have been killed.

On Sunday a four hour ceasefire was supposed to give civilians a chance to evacuate from the city, but gunfire broke out an hour into it.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said that he will not negotiate with militants aligned with the Islamic State group, and that he has ordered troops to kill the gunmen even if they slaughter the hostages.

The jihadis topple a crucifix in a Catholic church in the Philippine city of Marawi

The ISIS-inspired thugs also destroyed effigies of Christian saints

Philippine soldiers are battling to recapture the town of Marawi from the militants

The siege of the lakeside city has dragged on for nearly two weeks. Troops have battled to regain control of most of the lakeside city, but the militants are still holding out in pockets.

They are believed to be holding many hostages, including a Catholic priest.

The Rev. Teresito Suganob, said in a video that he and about 200 other captives, including children, were being held by the militants.

Suganob apparently spoke under duress in the video, which recently appeared online.

On May 23, ISIS-inspired militants rampaged across the city, burning some buildings and occupying others as they battled troops backed by airstrikes and artillery fire.

A militant destroys a box containing a statue of the Virgin Mary

The thugs also tore down a poster of Pope Francis and stamped on it with their feet

At the end of the video the church is set on fire

US gives Philippines anti-terror weapons The United States on Monday gave the Philippines hundreds of machine guns, pistols and grenade launchers, which a local commander said would be used against Islamist militants battling troops in a southern city. The weapons, including machine guns capable of firing thousands of rounds a minute, were handed over at a ceremony in Manila that highlighted a decade-old American counter-terrorism assistance programme to the Philippines worth about $150 million. 'This equipment will enhance the (Philippine Marines') counterterrorism capabilities, and help protect (troops) actively engaged in counterterrorism operations in the southern Philippines,' a US embassy statement said. Philippine Marines chief Major General Emmanuel Salamat said at the ceremony troops would use the weapons in the ongoing battle against Islamist militants in the southern city of Marawi. The equipment turned over on Monday was all new, according to US officers at the ceremony. It included four M134D Gatling-style machine guns, which are capable of firing thousands of rounds a minute, as well as 300 M4 assault rifles and 100 grenade launchers. Advertisement

In a speech at an air base at Lapu-Lapu, Duterte said: 'I was asked if I could negotiate. I'm telling you now, you can kill all those you're holding now, but I won't talk to you.

'My order really is to shoot you and to shoot you dead.'

However troops have also held back from troops have held back from indiscriminately bombing at the militants with newly acquired fighter jets and ending the urban insurrection in a day because the government has to assure the safety of civilians trapped in the fighting.

Marawi officials estimate that about 2,000 residents remained trapped in their houses and many have run out of food and water.

The Marawi siege followed an unsuccessful May 23 army raid that attempted to capture a top terror suspect, Isnilon Hapilon, who has been designated by the Islamic State group as its leader in Southeast Asia.

Hapilon, who was wounded in an airstrike in a nearby town in January, was reportedly wounded anew in the foot by gunfire but escaped. Gunmen loyal to him swept through the city of 200,000 people, torching buildings and taking hostages. Up to 90 percent of Marawi's people have fled to safety.

Duterte has declared martial law across the southern third of the Philippines to deal with the most serious crisis of his year-old presidency.

Troops have regained control of most of the lakeside city, but pockets of resistance remain