Marawi in ruins after battle against pro-ISIL fighters

The centre of the picturesque lakeside town was heavily damaged in a campaign of shelling and aerial bombing.

| ISIS, Philippines, Asia Pacific

The Philippines has declared victory over supporters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group in the southern city of Marawi.

Five months of urban combat left 920 fighters dead and cost the lives of 165 government soldiers and at least 45 civilians.

The government had teamed up with its former enemies from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in its attempts to snuff out the fighters.

Fighting ended when troops finally overcame pro-ISIL fighters, including foreigners, who were holed up in several buildings in the heart of the city.

Officials say martial law will continue to be implemented in the wider Mindanao area.

The end of the clashes gave way to scenes of a historic city in ruins with soldiers patrolling the gutted out and pockmarked remains of apartment blocks and houses.

Pictures taken after the battle reveal it devastating impact; buildings turned to rubble, cars dotted with bullet holes, and personal belongings and furniture heaped beside the shell of a row of houses.

More than 600,000 locals were displaced by the fighting.

Tiếp tục đọc “Marawi in ruins after battle against pro-ISIL fighters”

Philippines ‘breeding ground for terrorists’, says Filipino suspect involved in New York City plot

channelnewsasia

 
Multiple locations including New York’s subway, Times Square and certain concert venues were identified as targets in the plot that was foiled by an undercover FBI agent. (Photo: AFP/Loic Venance) 

MANILA: A Filipino suspect in a thwarted jihadist plot targetting New York City had boasted that his country was “a breeding ground for terrorists”, the US Justice Department said Saturday (Oct 7).

Russell Salic and two others have been charged with involvement in the plan to carry out the attacks in the name of the Islamic State group during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in 2016. Tiếp tục đọc “Philippines ‘breeding ground for terrorists’, says Filipino suspect involved in New York City plot”

Police kill Reynaldo Parojinog and wife in drug raid

30 July 2017 al jazeera

Ozamiz city mayor was among list of officials publicly shamed last year by President Duterte of being linked to drugs.

Philippine police have reported killed nearly 3,200 people in drug raids since June 2016 [File: Francis R Malasig/EPA]

Phillippine police have killed a city mayor, his wife and 10 others during a series of pre-dawn anti-drug raids in the south, officials said.

Reynaldo Parojinog, mayor of Ozamiz city, is the latest official to be killed since President Rodrigo Duterte launched a drug war. Tiếp tục đọc “Police kill Reynaldo Parojinog and wife in drug raid”

Xác minh thông tin 2 thuyền viên Việt Nam bị nhóm khủng bố Abu Sayyaf sát hại

06:41 PM – 05/07/2017 Thanh Niên Online
Người phát ngôn Bộ Ngoại giao Lê Thị Thu Hằng
Người phát ngôn Bộ Ngoại giao Lê Thị Thu Hằng
Ngày 5.7, Người Phát ngôn Bộ Ngoại giao Việt Nam Lê Thị Thu Hằng đã trả lời câu hỏi của phóng viên đề nghị cho biết thông tin về vụ 2 thuyền viên Việt Nam bị nhóm khủng bố Abu Sayyaf sát hại hại tại Philippines.
Bà Lê Thị Thu Hằng cho biết Bộ Ngoại giao Việt Nam và Đại sứ quán Việt Nam tại Philippines đã đề nghị các cơ quan chức năng của Philippines xác minh những thông tin nói trên và có hỗ trợ cần thiết trong thời gian sớm nhất.

Tiếp tục đọc “Xác minh thông tin 2 thuyền viên Việt Nam bị nhóm khủng bố Abu Sayyaf sát hại”

Biển Đông-Cuộc chiến quyền lực ở châu Á – Chương 5: Dầu khí ở Biển Đông

SP – [Trích] Bill Hayton- BIỂN ĐÔNG – Cuộc chiến quyền lực ở châu Á

Chương 5

Được miếng và tay không
Dầu khí ở Biển Đông

Something and Nothing
Oil and Gas in the South China Sea

Tháng 8 năm 1990, Đông Nam Á đã trở nên rất phấn khởi về việc ‘Trung Quốc trở lại’. Đã một năm kể từ khi vụ thảm sát tại quảng trường Thiên An Môn và nhiều nhân vật có ảnh hưởng nghĩ rằng đã tới lúc quay trở lại với công việc [bang giao]. Phô trương ầm ĩ, Thủ tướng Lí Bằng, một trong những người đằng sau vụ thảm sát, đã bắt tay vào một chuyến thăm khu vực 9 ngày. Tiếp tục đọc “Biển Đông-Cuộc chiến quyền lực ở châu Á – Chương 5: Dầu khí ở Biển Đông”

Philippines to halt operations against communist rebels

al jazeera 18 June 2017

Truce allows government troops to focus on quelling a month-long siege by ISIL-linked fighters in Mindanao province.

In the past year, the government has engaged in an on-and-off truce with communist rebels [Reuters]

The Philippine government has announced it will suspend offensives against communist fighters, allowing troops to focus on quelling a bloody siege by ISIL-linked fighters in the country’s south.

Silvestre Bello III, chief government negotiator, said on Sunday that the government move is in response to a similar plan by the communist New People’s Army rebels. Tiếp tục đọc “Philippines to halt operations against communist rebels”

Islamic leaders around Marawi fearful of denouncing extreme militants

 
An imam preaches to the congregation at the Lanao Islamic Centre in Baloi. (Photo: Jack Board)

ILIGAN, Philippines: Senior Islamic leaders in Lanao del Norte say they are too fearful to criticise the actions or philosophies of Islamic State (IS), for fear of reprisals or community backlash as fighting rages around the city of Marawi.

Fighters have laid siege to the city for nearly four weeks, despite intense efforts by the Philippine military to liberate the approximate 10 per cent of Marawi still under militant control.

Grand Imam Idah Ali of the Lanao Islamic Center in Baloi, just a few kilometres from Marawi, refused to denounce the militant movement saying speaking out could upset stakeholders in the conflict.

“I cannot do anything about IS,” he said. “These people have a personal interest. I cannot say about this because if I talk about them, what will happen? Maybe they will be angry at me.

“If I say something, maybe the government will be angry with me, maybe the people of Marawi will be angry with me, maybe the majority of people in the Philippines will be angry with me.” Tiếp tục đọc “Islamic leaders around Marawi fearful of denouncing extreme militants”

Philippines launches campaign to free one million child workers

al jazeera june 12., 2017

Government figures show that nearly three million children in the Philippines are working in dangerous jobs.

Many of those are involved in the small-scale gold mining industry.

Authorities have launched a campaign to try and free at least one million child workers by 2025.

 

Al Jazeera’s Step Vaessen reports from Paracale in central Philippines.

13 marines killed as fighting rages in Marawi City

Al Jazeera June 10, 2017

US confirms it is ‘assisting’ Philippine army in besieged Marawi where fighting broke out more than two weeks ago.

At least 13 Philippine marines were killed on Friday as the battle against fighters linked to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) continued in the besieged southern city of Marawi. Tiếp tục đọc “13 marines killed as fighting rages in Marawi City”

Ominous signs of an Asian hub for Islamic State in the Philippines

channelnewsasia

 
Government soldiers fighting the Maute group watch a helicopter attack (not pictured) as they take a break inside a military camp in Marawi City, southern Philippines. (Photo: Reuters) 

MARAWI CITY, Philippines: Dozens of foreign jihadis have fought side-by-side with Islamic State sympathizers against security forces in the southern Philippines over the past week, evidence that the restive region is fast becoming an Asian hub for the ultra-radical group.

A Philippines intelligence source said that of the 400-500 marauding fighters who overran Marawi City on the island of Mindanao last Tuesday, as many as 40 had recently come from overseas, including from countries in the Middle East. Tiếp tục đọc “Ominous signs of an Asian hub for Islamic State in the Philippines”

Philippines calls off peace talks with Communist rebels

Al Jazeera

Negotiations broke down over rebel order for fighters to step up attacks amid violence and martial law in the south.

Members of the Maoist New People’s Army (NPA) rebels [File: Reuters]

The Philippine government on Sunday formally called off the latest round of peace talks with communist insurgents, after the parties failed to resolve a dispute over a rebel order for fighters to step up attacks.

“We are maintaining the decision made not to participate in the fifth round of talks,” chief government negotiator Jesus Dureza told journalists after almost 10 hours of closed-door consultations. Tiếp tục đọc “Philippines calls off peace talks with Communist rebels”

Duterte declares martial law after Mindanao attack

Al Jareeza

Emergency declaration follows ongoing attack by about 100 fighters in the southern city of Marawi on Mindanao.

Duterte's four-day trip to Russia was cut short because of the brazen attack on Mindanao [Reuters]
Duterte’s four-day trip to Russia was cut short because of the brazen attack on Mindanao [Reuters]

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has declared martial law on the southern island of Mindanao after about 100 Muslim fighters laid siege to a major city following a deadly gun battle with government forces. Tiếp tục đọc “Duterte declares martial law after Mindanao attack”

Philippines president bans smoking in public, with offenders facing jail

Rodrigo Duterte, a former smoker himself, defies country’s powerful tobacco lobby to sign order that also outlaws ‘vaping’

Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte has signed an executive order banning smoking in public across the second-most populous country in south-east Asia, creating one of the region’s strictest anti-tobacco laws.

The ban, which carries a maximum penalty of four months in jail and a fine of 5,000 pesos ($100), covers both indoor and outdoor smoking, presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said on Thursday. Tiếp tục đọc “Philippines president bans smoking in public, with offenders facing jail”

Lawyer for Philippines hit man files complaint against Duterte in international court

japan times

Reuters Apr 24, 2017

A Philippine lawyer said he filed a complaint against President Rodrigo Duterte and senior officials at the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday, accusing them of crimes against humanity in a nationwide anti-drugs crackdown.

Attorney Jude Sabio said in the 77-page complaint that Duterte “repeatedly, unchangingly and continuously” committed crimes against humanity and that under him, killing drug suspects and other criminals has become “best practice.”

Sabio is the lawyer for Edgar Matobato, a man who has testified in the Philippines Senate that he was part of a hit squad that operated on Duterte’s orders. Tiếp tục đọc “Lawyer for Philippines hit man files complaint against Duterte in international court”

Philippine senator calls for probe into police cash-for-kill claim

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said in a statement that the Philippine National Police (PNP) should take “drastic measures” to verify the allegations made by two senior police officers, and punish those who have “broken their vow to protect the Filipino people.” Tiếp tục đọc “Philippine senator calls for probe into police cash-for-kill claim”