Cotabato City (CNN Philippines, May 30) — Almost 84,600 individuals have been displaced due to clashes between the terrorist group Maute and government forces in Marawi City.
READ: 61 terrorists killed, 124 civilians rescued in Marawi clearing ops
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. Mujiv Hataman — citing government data — said in a press conference Monday that there were already 67,870 individuals from Marawi, or 14, 374 families, in 38 evacuation centers located in nearby towns and Iligan City.
Meanwhile, 16,790 individuals, or 2,633 families, were considered home-based internally displaced persons (IDPs) or those staying with their relatives outside Marawi City.
READ: 14 hostages escape Maute captors in Marawi
This was since May 23, the day gunbattle erupted between the Maute group and government forces, which has so far killed 61 terrorists, 18 soldiers and policemen, and 19 civilians.
READ: Eight bodies found in Iligan-Marawi border
Marawi City has a population of 201,785 as of 2015, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. It is also the most populous city in ARMM.
Hataman said the local Social Welfare department would take care of evacuees in Lanao del Sur towns, while the national Social Welfare office would oversee those in Iligan City.
READ: AFP assures control of Marawi as clearing ops continue
