The Philippine military said only half of a barangay in Marawi described by a general as “three kilometers across, three kilometers wide” is still being cleared by the government forces.

“If we see the area of Marawi, what we are currently clearing is the south eastern side across the river,,” Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez, AFP Western Mindanao Command said Wednesday.

It can be recalled that in a radio interview, AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Eduardo Ano said the terrorist group are already confined within the area of Barangay Banggolo.

“What we are being cleared now is the other side of Banggolo which is around 50 percent (of the barangay),” Galvez said.

“It means three kilometers across, three kilometres wide. So it’s still long,” Galvez added referring to the 50 percent area of Barangay Banggalo being cleared by the government forces.

Despite the latest development, Galvez did not say when the soldiers can finish clearing the area.

“We will have to see. We cannot say yet because the situation sometimes changes, but at the rate that we are going, we are okay. It is just that they have stronghold which sometimes we need to operate for two days, three days, four days before we recover,” he said.

Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesman said the death toll on government side reached 39, with a total of 134 terrorist group members killed and around 115 firearms recovered.

Padilla said the number of civilians killed is still 20. Robina Asido/DMS