MANILA, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- More government troops will be deployed to Marawi City, adding to about 5,000 soldiers already involved in the prolonged fight to liberate the city from the Daesh-inspired Maute Group, a Philippine military official in charge of local operations said on Monday.
"We have more forces coming in. We have identified some gaps. We are making sure that those gaps, especially in the (Lanao) lake will be patched up," Western Mindanao Command chief Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez told a press briefing in Marawi City.
Galvez refused to disclose the number of personnel who will be sent to fight the Maute Group and when they will be arriving at the city.
The armed conflict, which broke out on May 23, has resulted in the death of 695 Maute members, 151 soldiers and policemen and 47 civilians, with all the residents fleeing the city.
On Sunday, Philippine military officials were able to cross two bridges that were recently retaken by government troops from the terror group for the first time since conflict erupted, leaving only a size of about 10 hectares with about 300 structures to be cleared.
Galvez said soldiers are well-distributed in the city, in keeping with the directive of higher headquarters to ensure that the Maute members will not slip out of the battle zone.
"The instruction to us is to ensure that there is no way in and no way out. That is what we are doing. The distribution of our forces is really very good. There is a small risk they (the Maute Group remnants) will get out," said Galvez.
He said the armed conflict would not take another month, estimating there are about 60 to 80 Maute members still in the main battle area with about 45 to 50 hostages.
Four newly-rescued hostages were also presented at the press briefing to the media in Marawi City. The military said they could not reveal how the hostages were rescued as it might compromise the ongoing rescue operations for the others.
