Snipers, bombs, mortars - Philippine troops battle against Islamists

The two spoke quietly to each other as the sniper took three more shots across the Agus river into the militant-held commercial district of Marawi, now a battleground strewn with debris from ruined buildings.Thousands of soldiers are battling to retake the southern Philippine city, where militants loyal to Islamic State launched a lightning strike on May 23.The southern Philippines has been marred for decades by insurgency and banditry.