Tag: Marawi

Philippines: Marawi liberated but root cause of extremism remains

October 20, 2017 Philippines Abu Sayyaf, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, Islamic State, Marawi, Maute, Mindanao, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, Southeast Asia

Soldiers on a military vehicle are seen on liberated but battle damaged street in Marawi City on 17 October. (Photo: Getty Images)

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte declared “Marawi City liberated from the terrorist influence” on Tuesday (17 October) after the military killed two of the ring leaders behind the five-month assault on the city, but a religious freedom expert has warned the “killing of militant leaders does not destroy the fighters behind . . . Read More

Philippines: Islamic group vows to help Catholics with Marawi’s rebuilding

October 2, 2017 Philippines Abu Sayyaf, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, Catholics, Islamic State, Marawi, Maute, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Philippines

The siege of the city of Marawi in Mindanao by Islamists one year ago, displaced many people. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

A programme launched by the Catholic Church, aimed at rebuilding the city of Marawi in the southern Philippines after months of fighting between Islamist groups and the military, has received support from the country’s largest Muslim rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. According to AsiaNews, the rebel group is . . . Read More

Philippines: Catholic priest free but over 40 hostages still held in Marawi

September 20, 2017 Philippines Abu Sayyaf, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, Manila, Marawi, Maute, Mindanao, Philippines, Teresito Suganob

Members of the Philippine army are clearing Marawi City of the last fighters of the insurgent Maute group. (Photo: Getty Images)

Catholic Filipino priest Teresito “Chito” Suganob may have been freed, but the war in the southern city of Marawi is not over yet, as 40 hostages are still being held by militants in the city, while almost half a million Marawi residents are internally displaced. Father Suganob arrived in the . . . Read More

Filipino priest Teresito Suganob free after 4 months as hostage

September 18, 2017 Philippines Abu Sayyaf, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, Islamic extremism, Marawi, Maute, Mindanao, Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, Teresito Suganob

Fr. Teresito “Chito” Suganob in a still taken from a video shortly after his release.

Catholic Filipino priest Teresito “Chito” Suganob is finally free, having been held hostage by Islamic State-linked militants for almost four months in the war-torn city of Marawi. According to The New York Times, the priest was rescued late on Saturday (16 September) by the Philippines military, as it moved closer . . . Read More

Philippines rejects hostage deal with Islamist militants

September 13, 2017 Philippines Abu Sayyaf, Marawi, Mindanao, Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, Teresito Suganob

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has rejected an offer by Islamic State-linked militants to exchange hostages for a safe passage out of the southern city of Marawi, which the militants have besieged since May. It is thought that Filipino priest Teresito “Chito” Suganob is being offered as part of the deal, . . . Read More

Three months on, Islamists still hold Christian hostages, as Marawi residents start to rebuild

August 29, 2017 Philippines Islamic State, Manila, Marawi, Maute, Mindanao, Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, Teresito Suganob

More than three months after it first attacked the city of Marawi in the southern Philippines, the Maute terrorist group is on the run, while still apparently holding 46 hostages, including Catholic priest Teresito “Chito” Suganob and 13 children. Almost half a million Marawi residents are displaced as a result . . . Read More

Fate of kidnapped Philippines priest – 57 today – ‘uncertain’

August 1, 2017 Philippines Abu Sayyaf, Islamic State, Marawi, Maute, Mindanao, Philippines, South Cotabato, Teresito Suganob

Catholic Priest Suganob is spending his 57th birthday in captivity, held by the Maute terrorist group in Marawi, Philippines. (Photo: still taken from a 'propaganda' video released by the kidnappers)

The fate of the kidnapped Filipino priest Teresito “Chito” Suganob – 57 today – has “become uncertain”, as the battle for the southern city of Marawi continues, according to the Catholic news agency UCAN. In June, World Watch Monitor reported that Father Suganob – who was abducted by the Maute . . . Read More

Filipino Bishops: ‘Marawi war is not a religious conflict’

July 11, 2017 Philippines Bangsamoro, Catholics, Manila, Marawi, Maute, Philippines, Teresito Suganob

Smoke is billowing from Marawi's homes. (Photo: Getty Images)

The Catholic Bishops in the Philippines, at the end of their episcopal Conference in Manila on Monday (10 July), have called for an end to the crisis in the southern city of Marawi (Mindanao), which, they say, “is not a conflict of religion”. “We heard and read truly amazing stories . . . Read More

Philippines: Islamist separatists endorse fatwa denouncing extremist violence

July 6, 2017 Philippines Bangsamoro, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Manila, Marawi, Maute, Mindanao, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Quran

The Philippines’ largest Muslim rebel group has backed a fatwa against violent extremism issued by a senior Islamic religious leader in the troubled southern region of Mindanao. Sheikh Abehuraira Abdulrahman Udasan, mufti of the influential Bangsamoro House of Opinion in Mindanao, issued the Islamic legal ruling “against the entry and . . . Read More

Kidnapped Philippines priest ‘alive’ but Marawi situation ‘dire’

June 27, 2017 Philippines Abu Sayyaf, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, Cotabato, Islamic extremism, Marawi, Maute, Pigcawayan, Rodrigo Duterte, Teresito Suganob

The Catholic priest abducted by the Maute terrorist group last month – in the early stages of its ongoing assault on the city of Marawi in the southern Philippines – is believed to be still alive, after his release was reportedly offered in exchange for the parents of the Maute . . . Read More

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