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Add to Preferred SourcesHundreds of people trapped in the southern Philippines city of Marawi are on the verge of starvation after four weeks of fighting between the army and Islamist militants.
“They have been saying that they are already starting to eat cardboard boxes just to stop hunger. They may die of starvation and lack of drinkable water,” Maurico Civiles of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.
Civiles told that people trapped in the centre of the city, which is still held by militants, have been calling a government hotline to plead for rescue.
“There are scores of decomposing bodies littered everywhere. Survivors who managed to escape reported seeing more than 200 dead bodies.”
If confirmed, that would increase the official civilian death toll to more than 226 since fighting began after a failed attempt by security forces to capture Isnilon Hapilon, a member of the militant group Abu Sayyaf who the government says is affiliated with the so-called Islamic State. The operation was foiled when security forces were confronted by militants, mainly members of the Maute group, another Islamist faction that has pledged allegiance to IS.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said between 300 and 500 civilians remain trapped inside Marawi.
More than 320,000 people have fled the ruined city – 21,800 of whom are in evacuation centres, while the rest are with host families, according to a 17 June “flash report” from the European Commission’s humanitarian arm, ECHO.
At least 59 people have died at evacuation centres, most of them from dehydration, said the report, citing Department of Health figures.
Source: IRIN News. Read full article here.
19 June, 2017