Maute terrorists holed up in Marawi grand mosque

The remaining members of the Maute group in Marawi City are holed up in the grand mosque with their civilian hostages.

In an exclusive video provided to ABS-CBN News, the war-torn buildings near the grand mosque can be seen.

On the background, the nonstop exchange of gunfires between the military and the Maute group can be heard.

According to the source of the video, the war torn establishment is only 60 to 70 meters away from the grand mosque, which has become the center of the firefight between government forces and the terrorist group.

It is believed that the remaining members of the Maute are inside the grand mosque, where they are also reportedly keeping around 40 civilian hostages.

Yesterday, Task Force Marawi said that the 1 square kilometer main battle area is now just around 800 x 600 meters. There are also only around 400 uncleared buildings.

With their number getting smaller everyday, the military said that that Maute is desperate to get help from supporters outside the main battle area. 

Just recently, 2 alleged Maute supporters were killed by military while trying to get inside the main battle area through the Lake Lanao.

On the 89th day of the Marawi clash, a total of 128 soldiers have been killed while the death toll for the terrorists has now reached a total of 573. Dateline Philippines, 19 August 2017