Clashes continue in Philippines between the armed forces and the Islamist insurgents in the city of Marawi which leads to death of 19 civilians. The battle between the army and the ISIS continued in the southern Philippine city which led to death of more civilians..
Clashes continue in Philippines between the armed forces and the Islamist insurgents in the city of Marawi which leads to death of 19 civilians.
Philippines violence continue
The battle between the army and the ISIS continued in the southern Philippine city which led to death of more civilians, increasing the death toll from a week’s violence to 85. Most of the Marawi population has fled but at least 2000 are still trapped. Those trapped have been sending messages through hot line to urge the military to refrain from further air strikes. About 60 militants and 15 members of security forces have been killed since Saturday.
Why this violence?
Marawi is a Muslim dominated city which is a stronghold for the Maute group who have allegiance to the Islamic state militant group. On 23rd may 2017, the Philippine troops tried to capture Isnilon Hapilon who is the leader of Abu Sayyaf militant group and is in FBI’s most wanted list. However, they failed and gunmen came out on to the streets with IS flags.
The Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte had imposed martial law on the southern part of Philippines to control the violence, however, atrocities continued with militants seizing schools, hospitals and a dozen hostages have been taken from the church. Buildings were set on fire and at least 100 inmates were freed from two prisons.
ISIS in Philippines
The Maute group is the radical Islamist group in Philippines. Mindanao, a southernmost island in Philippines has long been plagued by this conflict with the region facing communist insurgencies and nationalist rebellions.
Like Abu Sayyaf other militant Islamist groups have also joined in Mindanao such as the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (Biff) and Ansar Khalifa who have recently joined forces with the Maute. This is because the negotiations between the government and the Mindanao rebel organisation, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front has failed to produce concrete results. The militants aim for greater autonomy from the Christian government and increased control over Mindanao’s natural resources. It also wants a new caliphate in the region. Considering the network among the terrorist groups, local criminals and lawless armed men, the siege of Marawi city is a vital step to attain absolute control over Mindanao.
Assessment
There is an increasing fear that the ISIS which has been active in Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia for years now and there recent aggressive attacks is likely to spread to other south East Asian countries. Already more than 60 groups have pledged their allegiance to the self-declared caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Indonesia which is the world’s Muslim majority state is already seeing an increased alliance with the ISIS. If this problem is not countered it will lead to ISIS dominance in the South East Asian region.
Many Filipinos have left the country to join the Iraq and Syria. The government of Philippine should be vigilant about these returnees so as to prevent them from influencing the local militant groups from causing large scale violence. The government should take more concrete steps to control the violence in the region escalation of the violence could lead to military’s absolute control over Mindanao.
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