Chief of the Armed Forces of thePhilippines Eduardo Año was quoted by AP news agency as saying that themilitary has made advances in containing the weeklong siege of Marawi.
He said a top Filipino militant is believedto have been killed during the fight.
Government forces now control about 70percent of the southern city, while some insurgents are still hiding here andthere.
The violence in the city erupted on May 23as security forces raided on the suspected house of Isnilon Hapilon, acommander of the Abu Sayyaf group and leader of a branch of the IS group in thePhilippines.
President RodrigoDuterte has imposed martial law in Mindanao to mid-July.
Marawi has about 200,000 people, butthousands of them have evacuated due to the recent unrest. -VNA