菲律宾军队浴血名城，已打死31名伊斯兰国恐怖分子，发现印尼马拉西亚等外籍人员加入战场！ austraveller2017-05-26 07:51:12

Foreign fighters were among local gunmen clashing with the Philippine army in Mindanao island, authorities said on Friday, in a rare admission that outsiders were collaborating with domestic groups.

Military officials said Malaysians and Indonesians were among six killed on Thursday in battles that have raged for four days in Marawi City, where the army has been trying to flush out rebels of the Maute and Abu Sayyaf armed groups, which are linked to Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS).

The Philippines has deployed attack helicopters and special forces to drive the gunmen out of the besieged southern city of 200,000 people, with at least 11 soldiers and 31 fighters killed.

"Before it was just a local terrorist group. But now they have subscribed to the ideology of ISIS," Solicitor General Jose Calida told a news conference. "They want to make Mindanao part of the caliphate."

READ MORE: Mindanao - Churchgoers 'taken hostage' amid Marawi siege 

The ongoing violence has forced thousands to flee Marawi, located about 816km south of the capital, Manila.

"We are sad to see our children like this. They are just sleeping anywhere," Somaira Aloon, an evacuee, told Al Jazeera. "We can't work, it's a difficult life."

Al Jazeera's Jamela Alindogan, reporting from Marawi, said: "The Maute has specifically harassed and killed Christians in the area. Since last year, they have been raising ISIL's black flag in government facilities."

She said reports that foreign fighters had joined the group had been circulating since 2012.