[NPR] More than a week after ISIS-linked rebels seized Marawi, the Philippine military suffered a blow in its bid to retake the city: The country's defense secretary, Delfin Lorenzana, announced Thursday that an errant airstrike killed at least ten Philippine soldiers, wounding seven others."A group of our military army men were hit by our own airstrikes. The coordination was not properly done so we hit our own people," Lorenzana said in a text message.
Reuters reported the incident occurred "during the first offensive deployment of fixed-wing aircraft in the operation" against the Maute militants, who have pledged their loyalty to the Islamic State.
Shortly after the situation in Marawi descended into chaos, Philippine President Duterte declared martial law on Mindanao, suggesting he might soon broaden that emergency status nationwide. At a press conference last week, Duterte said, "If I think you should die, you will die. If you fight us, you will die. If there's an open defiance, you will die. And if it means many people dying, so be it. That's how it is."
From the outskirts of Marawi City, Al Jazeera reported, "Since the Philippine government announced martial law, there have been relentless air strikes, 'surgical air strikes' as the Philippine military described it. There have been organisations and civilians here who have been asking the government to stop the air strikes, simply because of the danger they pose for civilians."
Military spokesman Restituto Padilla said Thursday that the Philippine military does not intend to halt airstrikes after the incident, citing the need to combat enemy snipers in the city.