Philippines' Mindanao a longtime hotbed of Islamist insurrection, extremism

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It's there already. It could save lives. He made a habit of insulting former President Barack Obama, and has bragged of extrajudicial killing in his country of drug dealers and users.

Abu Sayyaf attacks in Palawan were also a possibility, the security official said. There have been previous reports of al-Baghdadi's death.

Maute militants stormed Marawi on May 23, clashing with government troops and prompting President Duterte to declare martial law in the island of Mindanao, of which the city is a part.

In January 2016, the leadership of the Islamic fundamentalist terror group ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), designated Hapilon as ISIS' "emir" in the Philippines. "Those islands include Matutuang and Kawio", Gen Ganip said. "Our city is in ruins, all the people have gone and the stores are closed".

Indonesia says it was looking to set up joint patrols with the Philippines and Malaysia to prevent Islamic militants who have laid siege to Marawi.

On Monday, the Justice Department asked the Department of the Interior and Local Government to allocate resources for the detention of members of the Maute terrorist group and their supporters.

Heavy gunfire rang out in the downtown area of Marawi on Tuesday morning, and the military continued to target the militants with mortars and helicopter-mounted machineguns. He earlier said the group planned to burn the city.

Lieutenant-Colonel Jo-Ar Herrera, spokesman for the Task Force Marawi, said the Americans were providing only "technical support" in the battle and were not involved in the physical fight.

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Cherie Carpenter of tells Flint TV station WJRT she saw the attacker's face Wednesday morning at Bishop International Airport . Gelios said authorities are also trying to piece together Fthoui's whereabouts since he entered the United States last week.

Mr Duterte said on Sunday that he had not sought support from Washington to end the siege and had not been aware that United States special forces were assisting.

The Combating Terrorism Center, an academic institution at the U.S. Military Academy reported that between June 2014 and April 2017 there were 20 terrorist attacks and 35 plots in Southeast Asia.

He did not say the armed forces had gone over his head but noted that, because of years of training from the United States, "our soldiers are pro-American, that I can not deny".

The US embassy in Manila said in a statement Saturday that US Special Operations Forces are providing support to the Philippine military in Marawi, but wouldn't discuss specifics.

A USA official, who requested anonymity, confirmed to Philippine media that the support they are providing to soldiers to suppress terrorism is in form of aerial surveillance and they are providing electronic eavesdropping and communications assistance.

The intensity of the battle in Marawi has raised fears that the security landscape in the southern Philippines has fundamentally changed, and that the region could emerge as a new global hotspot of extremism as ISIS is squeezed in its so-called caliphate. It said it had an additional 300 to 500 troops in the country to support regular training and activities, without giving further details. "We owe our freedom, we owe today, to each and every one of you who fought (and are still fighting) for absolute freedom from the hands of terrorists".

An Associated Press journalist and photographer saw a U.S. Navy P3 Orion plane hovering in cloudy skies above Marawi on Friday.

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