“There are certain foreign elements who have been in the country for a long time aiding these terrorists in skills related to terrorism, primarily bomb-making,” Padilla said in a press briefing.

Padilla said these foreign terrorists most likely entered the Philippines through the country’s porous borders, while some managed to sneak into the country through the airports.

Government forces have been conducting bomb runs in the besieged city to flush out members of local terror groups Maute and Abu Sayyaf who clashed with government troops on Tuesday.

“Up to this moment operations are ongoing. There are still firefights between our forces and those of the terrorists and the objective of armed forces is to clear the city,” Padilla added.

The clashes prompted President Rodrigo Duterte to place Mindanao under martial law and suspend the privilege of the writ of Habeas Corpus (show the body), which would allow the warrantless arrest of those charged with invasion or rebellion.

Government troops were pursuing bandits from the Maute group while on a mission to arrest Hapilon when the terror group took hostages and burned down several structures in the city.

The elusive Hapilon, an Islamic preacher who holds an engineering degree, has a $5 million bounty on his head placed by the US due to his involvement in the abduction and beheading of an American citizen in 2001.

ISIS INFLUENCE

Solicitor General Jose Calida, the top government lawyer, also admitted that the siege laid by the local terror groups in Marawi City was carried out with the help of militants from neighboring Southeast Asian countries.

Calida’s admission reflects Duterte’s long-running assertion and reports from various news agencies that the influence of the ISIS has reached Philippine shores.

“The order to attack is not only focused on the government. People they consider as infidels, whether Christians or Muslims, are also targets of opportunity,” Calida said.

“What is worrisome is that the ISIS has radicalized a number of Filipino Muslim youth,” he added.

Calida also claimed there are efforts to establish a caliphate in Mindanao.

“Before it was just a local terrorist group. But now, there is now an ideology, they have subscribed to the ideology of the ISIS and they have pledged allegiance to the flag of ISIS. So they want to create Mindanao as part of the caliphate,” Calida said.

Calida said, the apparent arrival of foreign terrorists in the country constitutes an invasion, and therefore justifies Duterte’s declaration of martial law in Mindanao. 

“Given the above clear and present dangers and atrocities happening in Mindanao, especially in Marawi City, it is the President’s constitutional duty to unsheathe the Republic’s sword of martial law to crush the rebellion that threatens to divide our country,” he said.

• TIMELINE: Maute attack in Marawi City

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At least 31 members of the Maute terrorist group have been killed in ongoing gunbattles in Marawi City, the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Western Mindanao Command (WESMINCOM) said on Thursday.

In a statement, WESMINCOM said 13 more Maute group members were killed in a 2-hour gunfight Thursday morning as government forces cleared two bridges heading toward Bangulo, Marawi.

"As of this report, 31 terrorists were already neutralized and 6 high-powered firearms were recovered by the troops,” said Brig. Gen. Rolly Bautista, head of Joint Task Force ZamPeLan.

"Our troops are doing deliberate operations in areas we believe are still occupied or infested with the terrorists' presence. I specifically ordered our soldiers to locate and destroy these terrorists as soon as possible,” he said.

Six more soldiers died in fresh clashes earlier Thursday, bringing the death toll on the government side to 13, following the death of five soldiers and two police officers earlier in the week. 

Meanwhile, 16 civilians were rescued in clearing operations in Barangay Kilala. 

"We once more call on the people in the community to join us fight terrorism. Provide your security forces with information that will contribute to the neutralization of these agents of deaths and destruction,” said Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr., commander of WESMINCOM.

'GHOST TOWNS'

The pandemonium in Marawi first erupted on Tuesday, after extremists torched several buildings and battled state forces, leaving 7 state troops and 13 Maute fighters dead.

President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law in the entire Mindanao on the same day.

On Wednesday, the military announced that the extremists have fled and that the government has recaptured the city hall, the Mindanao State University, and the Amai Pakpak Medical Hospital.

A lull in the fighting then allowed Marawi residents to flee to the neighboring towns of Iligan and Cagayan de Oro in droves.

Areas where the skirmishes started remained "ghost towns" on Thursday, ABS-CBN sources said. - with reports from Chiara Zambrano, ABS-CBN News