Hundreds Of Civilians Threatened By Fighting In Philippines' Marawi City - ICRC

KUALA LUMPUR, June 2 (Bernama) -- The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is concerned with the safety of nearly 2,000 residents who remain trapped in Marawi City, in southern Philippines as the number of casualties continues to grow. In a statement, Head of the ICRC in the Philippines, Pascal Porchet, said that the Geneva-based organisation was extremely worried about the residents who were not able to leave their homes due to the clashes over the past weekend those who were reportedly being held against their will. He reminded that targeting civilians was prohibited under the International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and precautions must be taken to protect them during military operations. “We urge all those involved in the fighting to protect civilians. We hope that the people being held are being treated humanely and we call for their release. We stand ready to serve as a neutral intermediary to evacuate civilians caught up in the fighting,” he said in the statement. The ICRC has been trying to negotiate safe access to the trapped civilians in Marawi by talking to all parties to the conflict. Since the onset of the fighting, the ICRC has been on the ground, assisting the population. Together with the Philippine Red Cross (PRC), the ICRC distributed aid to more than 10,000 displaced people, provided access to clean water and enhanced the capacity of six local health facilities to provide basic health care to thousands of people. The ICRC also transported nearly 600 people out of the city, the statement said. According to Reuters, the battles with the Islamic State-linked Maute group started on May 23 during a failed raid by security forces on one of the group's hideouts, which spiralled into chaos. The turmoil was the final straw for President Rodrigo Duterte, who delivered on his threat to impose martial law on Mindanao, the country's second-largest island, to stop the spread of radical Islam, reports said. -- BERNAMA