MANILA, Philippines - Snipers in high-rise buildings are the main problem facing government forces battling to crush pro-Islamic State fighters who have occupied Marawi City for more than a month, a military spokesman said Saturday.
Lt. Col. Jo-ar Herrera said this was the reason the government was using air strikes against the militants despite the massive damage it may cause in the city.
“If we do not use air strikes, we will incur more casualties of our troops,” he told reporters in Marawi, which was overrun by hundreds of militants on May 23.
Despite more than a month of fighting with hundreds of government troops, militants flying the black flag of the Islamic State are still entrenched in parts of the city.
The military has used jet fighters, attack planes and helicopter gunships, armed with bombs and rockets, to attack areas where the gunmen are hiding.
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PacificSentinel: They'd be better off using the gun's on helicopter gunships, or just a machine gun mounted in the door of a transport helicopter to spray the floor where the sniper is located, this would blow in the windows, maybe do some minor damage to the interior of the building, but the building would be repairable, an airstrike would do massive damage to the buildings, probably resulting in them needing to be demolished.