Fear, confusion as Philippine Muslim city burns

Marawi : Four hungry chickens clawed at rubbish in a deserted street that smelt of corpses as military helicopters skimmed the rooftops firing rockets while the Philippines' most beautiful Muslim city burned.

Marawi, a lakeshore city of minarets that is the centre of culture for the mainly Catholic Philippines' Muslim minority, is nearly empty after gunmen wielding black flags of the Islamic State (IS) group went on a rampage last week.

Despite a relentless military campaign, an unknown number of gunmen remain held up in pockets of the city and holding hostages, while up to 2,000 residents are trapped.

"These guys know how to fight. It looks like they have had some training," Marawi city police chief Parson Asadil told AFP on Monday in grudging acknowledgement as he manned a checkpoint.

At least one of his men had been killed and five are missing, he said.

The official death toll is 19 civilians, 17 soldiers, three police and 65 militants.

It is almost certain to rise.

A police commando told reporters in Marawi he suspected the still off-limits public market was full of dead bodies.

"The area smells bad," said the commando, Hamid Balimbingan.

"We still can't penetrate the area and that's why we're using helicopter gunships on them (gunmen)."

Those trapped are in danger of being hit by rockets or getting caught in the crossfire of the battles, while a lack of electricity, water, food and medical care could be just as deadly, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

"It really is a terrible situation," ICRC's deputy head of the Philippine delegation, Martin Thalmann, told AFP in Marawi. His team has been in contact with the trapped people via phone.

"Sick people have already died because they couldn't get out. There are elderly in there."

The military campaign involves dangerous house-to-house combat with the gunmen using sniper fire to deadly effect from key structures and buildings.

Helicopters also fly regularly over the areas being held by the militants and fire rockets, even with civilians known to be in nearby buildings.