Rescue bid for civilians in Marawi aborted due to intense clashes

A planned operation to rescue civilians still stuck in Marawi City's conflict zone was aborted when the clashes between the government troops and the ISIS-linked Maute group intensified.

According to a report by Emil Sumangil on 24 Oras on Tuesday, gunfire even reached a tactical post of the Joint Task Force Marawi, where the GMA News crew was waiting for the rescued civilians.

When the gunfire ended, a house went up in flames but ARMM regional police director Sr. Supt. Marlon Tayaba said it could have been just a case of faulty wiring.

"Faulty electrical wiring 'yan siguro," Tayaba said.

A firefighter was rescued from the scene as he suffocated while attending to the fire.

Though the main operation was put off by the attack, police managed to extract four elderly females and two underaged civilians who supposedly just wanted to look at the burning house despite knowing it was in a restricted zone.

"These people should not be there. Meron namang designated evacuation center diyan sa malapit sa Camp Maranao wherein eto sila, kasama sila," Tayaba said. —Rie Takumi/NB, GMA News