PHOTOS: In Marawi, A Siege Threatens To Grind Into Stalemate
Even as Philippine authorities report progress, large sections of the southern city remain under the control of ISIS-linked militants — who officials now believe have been planning for this moment.
After more than two weeks of bloodshed, brutality and the creeping danger of starvation, Marawi remains a city under siege. Philippine authorities are reckoning with a mounting death toll — which by many media counts is more than 170 people — as well as the looming threat that the siege might become a bloody stalemate.
The alliance of ISIS-linked militant groups that on May 23 continues to exercise control over the urban center — or about 10 percent. And he says the militants had long prepared for this fight by stockpiling supplies and weapons in mosques, schools and other civilian sites, as well as in a network of tunnels.
