Philipine marines aboard their vehicles maneuver through a street on their way to an assault on the hide out of Muslim militants near the town center in Marawi, in southern island of Mindanao on Sunday. AFP PHOTO
MARAWI CITY: Security forces traded heavy gunfire with Islamist militants inside a southern Philippine city Monday, as fears grew for up to 2,000 people unable to escape a week of fighting that has left women and children among the dead.