400 Marines move in to mop up last pocket of Maute resistance

A total of 400 troops from a Philippine Marine battalion headed for Marawi City before dawn Thursday for the mop-up operation to crush ISIS-inspired Maute jihadists still holding three of the city's barangays.

Super Radyo dzBB reported Thursday morning that 400 Marines from the 7th Philippine Marine Battalion, who have just finished a retraining course, left Villamor Air Base at about 3 a.m.

LOOK: Nasa 400 miyembro ng Philippine Marines, babiyahe papuntang Cagayan de Oro para ideploy sa Mindanao. | via @_jamesJA pic.twitter.com/7dULVJ5fIJ

— DZBB Super Radyo (@dzbb) May 31, 2017

Bahagi ang mga sundalo ng 7th Marine Battalion. Sumailalim sila sa ilang buwan na retraining sa Ternate, Cavite. pic.twitter.com/t4L9oc5yak

— DZBB Super Radyo (@dzbb) May 31, 2017

In Marawi City meanwhile, dzBB's Benjie Liwanag reported that additional military assets, including tanks and 20 armored personnel carriers, have begun rolling into the city's Mapandi business district, where Maute jihadists' have been constricted after over a week of relentless military offensives.

Liwanag said that Mapandi, with its high buildings and strategic location, has been used by Maute fighters as a last stronghold especially for sniping operations.

Citing military estimates, Liwanag said that the number of Maute fighters has been cut down to 30 as of Wednesday.

Armed confrontations continue to escalate as security forces pressed harder and harder against enemy positions in a mopping-up operation to free Marawi City by Friday—the military's self-imposed deadline.

Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla Jr. said earlier that only 10 percent of Marawi City has remained under the control of the terrorists, and that the military is employing "judicious use of force against the enemy."

Earlier, AFP chief of staff General Eduardo Año vowed to finish the crisis by Friday, June 2.

ISIS-inspired Maute Group laid siege to Marawi City, the provincial capital of  Lanao del Sur, last May 23.

Jihadist fighters burned establishments and took civilians hostage in the first days of the attacks, which prompted President Rodrigo Duterte to place the entire Mindanao under martial law. —LBG, GMA News