About 300 pro-Daesh militants on Wednesday stormed a school in the southern Philippines and are holding students hostage, Fox News reported.

Philippine officials say rebels are engaging troops in a gunbattle in Pigcawayan town in North Cotabato in an attack that may be an attempt to divert the military's focus away from the militants who have laid siege on southern Marawi city.

Police Chief Inspector Realan Mamon said that gunmen belonging to the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters raided the village of Malagakit in North Cotabato province at dawn Wednesday and engaged government forces in a firefight. Villagers have fled to safety.