Deaths could rise ‘significantly’

On high alert: Philippine soldiers standing guard on a bridge during an operation to retrieve bodies of casualties from the fighting zone in Marawi City. — Reuters

MANILA/MARAWI CITY: The Philippine military said it was likely that large numbers of civilians had been killed during the five-week occupation of a southern town by rebels, due to “atrocities” by the militants allied with Islamic State.

A toll of 27 Marawi residents killed was only what the authorities could independently confirm and a “significant number” of dead had been seen by those who had escaped fighting between insurgents and government forces, said military spokesman Restituto Padilla.