LOC16:58
13:58 GMT
KUALA LUMPUR, June 28 (KUNA) -- Number of civilians killed in the ongoing government offensive to dislodge militants out of Marawi is forecast to rise, according to the Ministry of Defense.
A spokesman of the army said at a news conference on Wednesday that 27 civilians had died in the continuing fighting as the government troops battled militants hoisting banner of the internationally notorious movement, the so-called Islamic State (known in Arabic as "Daesh").
He quoted people who fled the embattled Marawi as seeing large numbers of dead people in various parts of the largely ruined town.
The spokesman accused the militants of committing atrocities against the civilian residents of the southern town, under attack by the army since five weeks ago after the gunmen took control of it with the apparent objective of establishing a "a mini Islamic emirate." The army had launched the wide-scale military operation to jeopardize their scheme.
Marawi, a predominantly Muslim city, is located on the shores of Lake Lanao on Mindanao Island.
The military spokesman added that the rebel gunmen were holding civilians as hostages, mining roads and planting booby-traps in a bid to abort the troops' advance toward their pockets in the city. (end)
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