Philippines says Islamist militants are using kids as human shields

The military on Friday accuse Islamist militants holed up in commercial buildings in a southern Philippine city, of using children and civilians as human shields.

Military spokesman Brig.-Gen. Restituto Padilla said that the militants were also using madrasahs, or Islamic schools, as staging areas for their attacks.

Padilla also added that the mosques were been used as sniper nests in Marawi City, 800 km south of Manila, limiting the movement of troops.

“Compounding the situation on the ground is the use of these forces, these armed elements of children and civilians as human shields,’’ he said.

The militants were believed to be holding over 200 hostages, including a Catholic priest who had issued an appeal to President Rodrigo Duterte to withdraw government forces and stop military offensives.

The fighting in Marawi City began on May 23 when about 500 militants from different groups went on a rampage after government forces attempted to arrest a local leader of the Islamic State terrorist movement.

Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao after the militants laid siege to Marawi City and ordered the military to hunt down the perpetrators.

Troops have so far killed 120 militants, including eight foreign fighters from Malaysia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Chechnya and Yemen, in the fighting, which also left 38 government forces and 24 civilians killed.

According to local officials, almost 100,000 people have been displaced by the fighting and about 2,000 remain trapped in their homes.