MARAWI CITY: Foreigners are among Islamist gunmen battling security forces in Marawi City, the government said on Friday as the reported death toll from four days of clashes climbed to 46. He said Malaysians, Indonesians, Singaporeans and “other foreign jihadists” were fighting in Marawi, one of the biggest Muslim cities in the mainly Catholic Philippines with about 200,000 residents. Philippine military spokesman Brigadier-General Restituto Padilla said six foreign fighters are believed to have been killed in the Marawi fighting, including Malaysians, Indonesians and another nationality which he did not specify. The raid went spectacularly wrong as dozens of gunmen emerged to repel the security forces, then went on a rampage across the city while flying black IS flags. They said militants had also occupied higher ground in the city, enabling them to slow down or stop assaults from the security forces.

Source: Manila Times May 26, 2017 07:41 UTC