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Foreigners from at least 5 countries fighting with rebels in southern Philippines: Minister

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An air strike on Islamist terrorists holed up in a southern Philippine city has killed 11 government troops, the armed forces said on Thursday, in a major blow to the country’s bid to end its biggest internal security crisis in years.

The bombing accident happened yesterday when one of two planes bombing rebel positions missed its target in the heart of Marawi City, where ground troops have been battling pro-ISIS terrorists holed-up in buildings for nine days.

The incident came during what was the first offensive deployment of fixed-wing aircraft in the nine-day operation, aimed at flushing out the Islamist gunmen who have defied expectations by clinging on through days of ground assaults and helicopter rocket attacks.

“Sometimes in the fog of war a lot of things could happen. Accidents happen, like this,” Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told a news conference.

“It’s very sad to be hitting our own troops,” he added. “There must be a mistake somewhere, either someone directing from the ground, or the pilot.”

The Maute group has been a fierce enemy of a military with superior firepower and greater troop strength.

The government is concerned that the group’s brazen attack and its resilience could strike a chord with the ISIS leadership in the Middle East and win its endorsement as its Southeast Asian affiliate.

The deaths of the soldiers takes the number of security force members killed to 38, with 19 civilians and 120 terrorists killed in the battles in Marawi over the nine days.

Mr Lorenzana said terrorists who were Saudi, Malaysian, Indonesian, Yemeni and Chechen were among eight foreigners killed in the fighting, in what experts say is a sign the Philippines may have a major problem on its hands.

An exodus of residents from mainly Muslim Marawi started on May 23, when the Maute rebels ran amok, torching and seizing buildings, stealing police weapons and vehicles, taking hostages, and freeing jailed rebels to rejoin their fight.

The military added 21 armoured vehicles and a third battalion of troops to the operation on Thursday to put an end to the occupation.

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