© Romeo Ranoco / Reuters Government troops walk past a mosque before their assault with insurgents from the so-called Maute group, who have taken over large parts of Marawi City, southern Philippines May 25, 2017.
"We're confronting maybe 30 to 40 remaining from the local terrorist group," said Jo-Ar Herrera, spokesman for the military's First Infantry Regiment, as cited by Reuters.
"The military is conducting precise, surgical operations to flush them out... The situation is very fluid and movements are dynamic because we wanted to out-step and outmaneuver them."
© Google Maps
Some 18 rebels and six soldiers were killed in the operation according to an army spokesperson cited by Reuters.
RT reached out to Marawi resident and eyewitness Chico Dimaro Usman who has captured the carnage in detail, uploading images and video to Facebook.
© Chico Dimaro Usman
© Chico Dimaro Usman
The air raids continued throughout the morning into mid-afternoon but Usman captured both raids on camera.
RT has corroborated that the videos were taken in the region through comparisons of local topography in the videos with imagery from Google Earth.
© Chico Dimaro Usman
RT obtained private statements from Usman confirming that he is in the area. Out of concern for his and his family's safety, RT is not disclosing his exact location at this time.
So far, a total of 46 people including 15 security forces and 31 Maute fighters have been killed in Marawi City reports Reuters.
ISIS conquers Philippines city of Marawi
The Philippines city of Marawi has reportedly been taken by ISIS in the most brutal way imaginable. According to the Amaq Agency, over 70 Philippines soldiers have been killed. However, the Philippine Army have contradicted this report saying that only 8 of their soldiers have been killed. It remains to be seen which report is the more accurate figure.
ISIS have set up check-points around the city in a manner reminiscent of how they came to control cities like Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria.
New pictures have been released by al-Masdar depicting the rapid conquest of the city by ISIS.
The rapid gains ISIS is making in Philippines could gain the group a foothold in South East Asia. Unlike previous Islamist insurgencies in Philippines, ISIS openly claim to hold regional and indeed global ambitions.
A man carries the ISIS flag of conquest in front of stoic locals.
ISIS fighters drive their trucks and automatic weapons through the conquered city.
Islamist militants rampaging through a southern Philippine city beheaded a local police chief, President Rodrigo Dutertesaid on Wednesday.
He said the attack occurred near the southern city of Marawi, which is under siege by Islamic militants, as justification for imposing martial law across the southern third of the country.
"The chief of police in Malabang on his way home, going back he was stopped by a checkpoint manned by terrorists and I think they decapitated them right then and there," Mr Duterte he told a news conference.
Filipino soldiers man a military armoured personnel carrier on a street following President Rodrigo Duterte's declaration of Martial law in Cotabato City, Mindanao Island, southern Philippines.
More than 100 gunmen responded to the raid by burning buildings and conducting other diversionary tactics, officials said, adding that thousands of residents have fled Marawi.
Police said an officer and two soldiers had been killed in the fighting, with at least eight others injured. It was unclear if the ambush on the local police chief was included in the official tally.
Mr Duterte said continuing sporadic skirmishes showed the group's "capability to sow terror and unleash harassment and inflict destruction" across the country's south.
He said he wouldn't rule out placing the entire country under martial law if the threat of Islamic State spreads.
Thousands flee as Catholic priest taken hostage
Thousands of civilians fled fighting on Wednesday as troops sought to contain militants who took over large parts of a city, set building ablaze and took hostage a Catholic priest and other Christians.
Soldiers and rebels set up checkpoints and road blocks on routes out of Marawi and a stream of men, women and children fled from late on Tuesday and on Wednesday, cramming into jeeps loaded with belongings.
© TED ALJIBE/AFPResidents fleeing from Marawi, where gunmen who had declared allegiance to the Islamic State group rampaged through the southern city, walk past a checkpoint at the entrance to Iligan on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao.
Fighting abated on Wednesday as the military tried to isolate fighters while awaiting reinforcements.
The armed forces said the situation was under control but residents who fled told a different story and said Marawi was in the hands of the rebels, who had allowed civilians to leave.
© TED ALJIBE/AFPResidents fleeing from Marawi city, where gunmen who had declared allegiance to the Islamic State group rampaged through the southern city, are cramped on a truck as they traverse a traffic gridlock near a police checkpoint at the entrance of Iligan City, in southern island of Mindanao.
"I was in school when we heard gunfire ... When we came out there were bloodstains in the building but we did not see dead or wounded."
© RICHEL UMEL/EPA Filipino soldiers check a vehicle with evacuating residents from their hometown of Marawi city, at a military checkpoint in Iligan city, Mindanao.
"They have threatened to kill the hostages if the government forces unleashed against them are not recalled," said Father Socrates Villegas, president of Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines.
"We beg every Filipino to pray fervently for Father Chito and for other hostages."
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