Heavy fighting continued throughout the weekend in and around the city of Marawi, in the southern Philippines, as after the declaration of martial law, the Duterte government has dispatched the military to try to recapture the city, which has been more or less completely overrun by ISIS.
The official military toll is that around 100 people have been killed so far, including 16 civilians. Others report at least 19 civilians killed, and eight more bodies discovered outside the city, apparently summarily executed by somebody or other.
Despite a large military force being dispatched to reclaim the city, the Islamist fighters within appear not to have prepared any escape, and are instead digging in, preparing to resist what could be a long and violent siege. Marawi was a city of about 200,000, though estimates are that most everyone has fled, and no more than a few thousand remain.
Officials say they remain confident that they’ll take the city soon, however, saying they believe the militants are low on ammunition and food. The 60-day martial law period declared, however, appears to have somewhat united other Islamist factions in the covered region, and may lead to yet more resistance to the military incursions.
Philippines population by religious affiliation
Roman Catholic, including Catholic Charismatic 80.58
Islam 5.57
Evangelicals (PCEC) 2.68
Iglesia Ni Cristo 2.45
Other 8.72
Are the three lettered U.S. agencies trying to spike Duerte’s Presidency….
If anyone has to ask, they will never know.
Philippians and USA
Slave owners — Top 25%
Slave drivers — Middle 25%
Slaves — Bottom 50%
Something smells funny here.
Is ISIS a franchise operation?
Who picked up the franchise, the government?
If Duterte needs help fighting these foreign terrorists, he better turn to China or Russia, because we all know what will happen to him if he turns to the U.S.
Harmful drugs is a moral problem, so, as using force only causes a moral problem to get worse, either government should give up it’s monopoly on the use of force and violence or get out of the business of controlling drugs.