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By Ayee Macaraig Agence France Presse After fleeing for their lives nearly a year ago, some residents of the battle-scarred city of Marawi were allowed back Sunday for the first time — to dig through the rubble that was once their homes. Swathes of the southern city were destroyed in five months of house-to-house fighting between troops and jihadists loyal to the Islamic State group that killed nearly 1,200. The stunned and tearful residents, who once […]
A gunman claiming allegiance to the Islamic State group fired shots and took hostages at a supermarket in southwestern France on Friday, a local prosecutor said. Security forces were responding to two separate incidents, one at a supermarket in the town of Trebes and the second, a 15-minute drive away, in the town of Carcassonne where a policeman was shot. It was unclear if the two incidents were linked. In Trebes, the man “entered […]
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday vowed to expand Turkey’s offensive in Syria against Kurdish militia to key border towns controlled by the group right up to the Iraqi frontier. Turkey launched its operation seeking to oust Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia from the Afrin region of northern Syria on January 20 and Erdogan said Thursday its forces could now enter Afrin town at “any moment”. But Ankara has always threatened […]
(Eagle News) — The Philippine government hailed the inclusion of the Maute group in the United States list of foreign terrorist organizations. “The official designation of the Maute Group as an affiliate group of ISIS and its inclusion in the US list of foreign terrorist organizations are positive developments in the campaign against terrorism,” said Presidential Spokesperson harry Roque in a statement. “This reaffirms our long-held belief that the Maute Group is composed of local […]
(Eagle News) – We are ready. The deputy commander of Joint Task Force had this to say, after the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s Murad Ibrahim warned that jihadists loyal to the Islamic State group could seize another Filipino city. According to Col. Romeo Brawner, the military was “rewriting (their) doctrines,” “reorganizing (their) units,” and “re-equipping and retraining,” applying the lessons they learnt when Maute rebels who pledged allegiance to ISIS overran Marawi in May. He said […]
The US Treasury on Friday placed three men–including a Filipino—it said were part of the Islamic State’s global financial network on its sanctions blacklist, as it seeks to shut down the flow of funds to the group. The Treasury said Abdulpatta Escalon Abubakar of the Philippines, Yunus Emre Sakarya of Turkey, and Mohamed Mire Ali Yusuf of Somalia all provided financial, material or technological support for the Islamic State group. Abubakar is alleged to have been […]
(Eagle News) — Marawi City Mayor Majul Usman Gandamra said there are no reports of recent recruitment for would-be members of the ISIS-inspired group in the city. Gandamra however, told reporters during a press briefing on Friday, February 9, that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) reported there are possibilities of recruitments in other municipalities. “…But ito po ay na-address na ng ating security forces,” he said, noting that martial law extension in Mindanao was […]
(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte is a target of the Islamic State during his official trip to India, a publication from the Philippines’ neighboring country said. But Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the President–who is slated to attend Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi today—remained unfazed despite the report published by The Print. “(President Duterte) will not cower to threats from ISIS nor any other terrorist groups,” Roque said. According to the presidential spokesperson, […]
(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte wants to “intensify” maritime security and cooperation with Indonesia to fight terrorism. Duterte made the statement during a courtesy call made by Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi on Wednesday. Duterte was accompanied by representatives from the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Education, while Retno was accompanied by Consul General for the Indonesian Embassy in Davao Berlian Napitupulu, Indonesian Embassy in Manila charge d’affaires Budi Dhewajani, among others. “While […]
(Eagle News) — Around 800 temporary shelters are set to be turned over to displaced residents in Marawi on Wednesday. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque made the announcement in a televised press briefing in Marawi City. “We targeted to transfer 500 units but instead of just 500, we are actually transferring 800,” he said. According to Roque, of the 800, the 500 are in Sagonsongan, and the 300 in Matungao, in Lanao del Norte. The scheduled turnover–which […]
MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — The widow of a slain Islamist militant leader will be charged for allegedly using social media to recruit Islamic State sympathizers to join a five-month siege of a southern city, Philippine authorities said Friday. Hundreds of local and foreign gunmen who had pledged allegiance to IS rampaged through Marawi, the principal Islamic city in the mainly Catholic Philippines, starting in May — sparking the nation’s longest urban war that claimed more […]
(Eagle News) — The Philippines on Friday expressed its condolences to Egypt following the deadly terrorist attack in a mosque that killed over 200 and wounded others. “We join the people and the government of Egypt and the rest of the world in mourning the loss of many innocent lives in the tragedy,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said. Cayetano also condemned the attack, which Ambassador Leslie Baja said took place at the Al-Rawdah […]
