The Philippine Army is preparing for the last offensive against Islamic extremists who have been resisting for more than a month in the town of Marawi, in the south of the country, in a conflict that has caused more than 400 deaths.
Philippine army general Eduardo Ano says the rebels of the so-called Maute group and Abu Sayyaf, who are Islamic State sympathisers, are confined to an area between one and two square kilometres of the city.
Ano is confident that the insurgents will soon be struck, but warned of the difficulties of approaching the area under their control, where authorities believe there are dozens of civilians held hostage.
"It's just a matter of days but we cannot impose a timeline or deadline. The fighting there is building to building, house to house, floor to floor. How can you rush given the nature of the fight," Ano said.
"What we are doing is a great effort, taking into account the safety of the civilians, trapped civilians and minimising the destruction of properties.
Ano said earlier that the army killed 10 snipers of the terror organisation, bringing the number of rebels killed in this conflict to 317, in addition to 88 soldiers and police and 44 civilians.
The Marawi crisis began on May 23, when the Maute group as well as local and foreign extremists took up arms in this city on Mindanao island, showing black IS flags and setting fire to the police station, a school, a prison and a church.
More than 260,000 inhabitants of Marawi and surrounding areas have fled or been evacuated to makeshift shelters in the nearby towns of Iligan and Cagayan de Oro.
