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Marawi CIty: A Philippines politician said residents fleeing besieged Marawi City had seen scores of dead bodies in an area where intense fighting has taken place between security forces and Islamist militants in the last three weeks.
"Dead bodies, at least 100, scattered around the encounter area," Zia Alonto Adiong, a politician in the area who is helping in rescue and relief efforts, told reporters, referring to accounts he had received from fleeing residents.
Prime Minister Theresa May and London Mayor Sadiq Khan have hit out at the attack in Finsbury Park, with May reiterating extremism has been tolerated for too long.
Lieutenant Colonel Jo-Ar Herrera, a military spokesman, said troops were advancing toward the commercial centre of Marawi City, which is held by the militants who have sworn allegiance to Islamic State.
"We intend to finish the fight as soon as possible. Our tactical commanders are doing their best," Herrera said.
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But troops still faced up to 200 fighters, many of whom had taken up sniper positions, he said.
A military chaplain blesses the flag-draped caskets of eight of the thirteen marines killed Friday in the battle with Muslim militants in Marawi city in southern Philippines Photo: AP
Two of Mohammad's brothers, Omarkhayam and Abdullah, lead the Maute gang that is at the forefront of the battle for Marawi City.
Marawi is about 100 kilometres south of Cagayan de Oro, but it was not clear whether Mohammad was coming from the embattled city.
Protesters stage die-in during a rally near the Presidential Palace to denounce the Martial Law declaration of President Rodrigo Duterte after Muslim militants laid a siege of Marawi city in southern Philippines for three weeks.
Most of the other seven Maute brothers, including Omarkhayam and Abdullah, are believed to be in Marawi.
Their parents were taken into custody last week in separate cities.
Brigadier-General Gilbert Gapay, spokesman for the military's Eastern Mindanao Command, said Mohammad Noaim Maute was a suspected bomb-maker for the group.
He said Maute was holding a fake student card of the Mindanao State University, based in Marawi, when stopped at the checkpoint. He was not armed.
Police said Maute, an Arabic-language teacher, readily admitted his identity when questioned.