AFP in control of Marawi City but...

ILIGAN CITY, Philippines – As the fighting between government forces and gunmen of the Islamic State-inspired Maute group entered its fifth day, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Eduardo Año predicted the military operation will take about a week as soldiers go house to house to clear Marawi City of militants.

Año said although the troops have the upper hand, it is proving difficult for them to engage in urban warfare as the militants have taken tactical positions in almost every house in the city.

“We are in total control of the whole area but it’s not cleared due to the urban terrain,” Año told reporters on the sidelines of President Duterte’s visit to the Army’s 2nd Mechanized Battalion headquarters late Friday.

Año, however, vowed to crush the militants and end the siege.

“We will make this their cemetery,” he said. “We have to finish this.”

Troops often encounter sniper fire as they advance slowly to clear the city of rebels.

“We have to clear one step at a time, house to house, block by block,” Año said.

Año pointed out the troops are used to fighting in the jungle but not in close combat encounters with gunmen in an urban setting.

“Here (Marawi) all it takes is for an armed person to position himself inside a building (as a sniper)… it would take time before it could be cleared,” he said.

Año said they have to send in more troops to help in the clearing operations. “We have enough troops but we need additional reinforcement to speed up our clearing,” he said.

AFP spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said government forces are working to “clear the city of all remnants of this group.”

Padilla said some civilians refused to evacuate because they want to guard their homes, which is slowing down the government operations.

“But that’s fine as long as civilians are not hurt,” he said.

On Friday, Duterte ordered the military to crush the militants, warning that the country is at a grave risk of  “contamination” by the Islamic State (IS) group.

At least 44 people have died in the fighting, including 31 militants and 11 soldiers, officials said. It was not immediately clear whether civilians were among the dead.

The violence has forced thousands of people to flee and raised fears of growing extremism.

Duterte told the troops here that he had long feared that “contamination by ISIS” loomed in the country’s future, using the acronym for the Islamic State group. “You can say that ISIS is here already,” he said.

He gave the troops a free hand to wrest control of Marawi. “You can arrest any person, search any house without warrant,” Duterte said.

The city of Marawi, home to some 200,000 people, has been under siege by IS-linked militants since a failed raid Tuesday night on the suspected hideout of Isnilon Hapilon, the leader of the notorious Abu Sayyaf group.

Hapilon got away and fighters loyal to him took over parts of the city, burning buildings and seizing about a dozen hostages, including a priest. Their condition is unknown.

Hapilon is still hiding out in the city under the protection of gunmen who are desperately trying to find a way to “extricate” him, Año said.

“Right now, he is still inside (the city). We cannot just pinpoint the particular spot,” he said.

Año said Hapilon suffered a stroke after a government airstrike wounded him in January.

Año also said foreign fighters were believed to be among the militants still holding out in the city.

“We suspect that but we’re still validating,” he said. – With Jaime Laude, Evelyn Macairan, John Unson, Lino dela Cruz, Christina Mendez, AP