IS takes slaves as Philippines battle intensifies

Five weeks ago, militants loyal to Islamic State seized large parts of Marawi City in the southern Philippines.

As the conflict now enters its second month, government forces are still fighting to regain control.

The rebels have lost ground, but remain entrenched in what was the commercial heart of the city, with hundreds of civilians feared to be trapped and hiding among them.

Over four days in Marawi, Sky News watched the Philippine military carrying out repeated air strikes, bombers wheeling overhead and diving towards targets in the city.

The fighting is intense and sustained - mortars and helicopters mounted with machine guns are being used, as well as armoured personnel carriers and ground troops.

Philippine forces train to combat rebel groups in jungle conditions, but here they are facing close quarters, urban warfare, fighting street-to-street, at times house-to-house.

We saw armoured vehicles reinforced with planks of wood by their crews in an improvised attempt to withstand anti-tank weaponry and rocket-propelled grenades fired by the militants.

Sky News drone footage from inside rebel-held territory showed a mosque believed to be used as a base - local fighters are also said to have knowledge of tunnel networks and bomb shelters beneath the city.

The mosque has not been targeted by Philippine forces, but whole streets around it have been flattened. We saw large fires burning in the ruins.

One commanding officer told us some of the trapped civilians are being used as slaves and orderlies by the militants, with some being forced to wear black robes and act as human shields.

Large fires burn in the wreckage of buildings

"Those hostages are being dressed, we have some visuals of this," Lt Col Christopher Tampus, commander of 1st Infantry Battalion told us.

"They are being dressed with a black-like robe. We believe these are civilians because we can easily see how they move."

We set out to reach a family we had heard was still in touch with relatives trapped inside, but as we ran across the street to their house a bullet landed less than a metre from our team.

It appeared we were being targeted.

Inside, one of the men told us they are being shot at every day, that they are getting no relief supplies and that their children were very nervous and traumatised.

We planned to stay in the building until the threat outside subsided, but then a fire started. It was unclear whether deliberately or not.

We had to get out, but the only way was back across the same street. We lined up to make the run, one at a time, into our vehicle, crouching low inside until we had reached relative safety.

From there we watched military reinforcements rolling in - a long convoy of more armoured personnel carriers and trucks full of soldiers heading into Marawi.

Most of the city's 250,000 inhabitants have fled, leaving their street stalls still set out with blackened bananas rotting where they hang.

We passed a dead dog, abandoned in the road, and black graffiti as a reminder of what they were running from.

"WELCOME ISIS!" one scrawled message read. Another had a picture of a skull and cross-bones beneath an ISIS slogan.

Checkpoints have been set up on every road into the city - searching vehicles for men and ammunition trying to get in, and any fighters trying to escape.

Photos of suspected militants are posted at every exit, and compared to drivers and passengers coming through.

Among them - the leaders of the Maute group - two brothers, Omar and Abdullah Maute.

The attack on Marawi was led by the brothers and Isnilon Hapilon, head of the Abu Sayyaf group and the declared IS "emir" for south east Asia.

Militants are welcomed to the city with graffiti

Hapilon is on the FBI's list of most wanted terrorists - a $5m (£3.93m) reward has been offered for information leading to his capture.

A raid to capture Hapilon on 23 May triggered the current violence and may have thwarted a larger, planned assault on the city three days later. His fate and location remain unknown.

Poverty, lawlessness and the legacy of decades of conflict in this region have created fertile ground for new recruits.

We spoke to the uncle of a young man killed fighting for the Maute group, who told us there are many more like him.

"In my village, the number of recruited were 10. Actually there are lots of them that have already been killed in the fighting in Marawi," the man said.

"There are a lot because Abdullah Maute targeted Cotabato City. He convinced a lot of teenagers..."

In June 2016, Islamic State called for those who cannot reach Syria to head for the Philippines instead.

It has a propaganda video which purportedly shows its militants in Marawi.

A number of foreign fighters have been found among the dead. The longer the conflict goes on, the greater the danger more will be attracted to the cause from across the region and beyond.

On Sunday, a temporary ceasefire was declared to mark the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, and allow what the military called a "humanitarian pause".

A delegation of religious leaders and volunteers, armed only with megaphones, headed out across the front line to try to negotiate the release of some of the trapped civilians.

But as we waited for news, a number of shots were fired into our street, forcing everyone to take cover behind parked cars.

Three hours later, the rescue teams re-emerged, bringing with them a 14-month old girl and her mother, father, grandfather, and aunt.

The family had hidden in their employer's basement for 33 days.

A 14-month-old girl and her family spent 33 days hidden in a basement

"There were bombs dropping near to us," grandfather Lando Albasete told us. "We dropped to the floor."

"My granddaughter was crying every time there was an explosion."

His daughter-in-law had given birth while they were trapped, but the baby did not survive.

The teams also brought out the body of a 72-year-old man, who had suffered a stroke, and died before he could be reached.

Even as the rescued family was being taken to hospital, the fighting in Marawi resumed.

The military insists the rebel leadership is "crumbling" and victory is "irreversible" but declined to say when it might come.

(SKY NEWS)