Filipino soldiers pin down IS in Marawi

FILE PHOTO: An Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) and government troops march towards Mapandi bridge after 100 days of intense fighting between soldiers and insurgents from the Maute group, who have taken over parts of Marawi city, southern Philippines August 30, 2017. REUTERS/Froilan Gallardo/File Photo

MARAWI CITY (Philippines): With a grimace, Brig-Gen Mel-quiades Ordiales of the Philippines 1st Marine Brigade recounted the painful gains made against Islamist militants in Marawi City.

“It took us one week from this point to that point, to cross that street,” he said, casting his eyes to the other side of a two-lane road in the heart of the southern Philippines city, lined by three-storey buildings shattered by air strikes and the remaining walls riddled with bullet holes.