Marawi gradually returning to normal routine

MARAWI CITY, Philippines - After five months of crippling conflict, there are slow signs of life returning in battered Marawi City.

Utilities engineers were at work on Thursday in the near-deserted outskirts of Marawi which escaped the daily airstrikes that flattened vast swathes of the city.

A few grocery stores, motorcycle repair shops and gasoline sellers have opened, ready for the first batch of returning residents in the coming days.