The Philippines declared martial law on their southern island of Mindanao after a clash with ISIS-linked fighters.
President Rodrigo Duterte announced on Tuesday in Moscow that the country was declaring martial law in the region. A number of militants raised an ISIS flag in Marawi City and three members of the nation’s security forces were killed during the conflict, 12 were wounded in the encounter.
Three members of the security forces were killed and 12 wounded, Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told a news conference, as clashes erupted in the wake of what the military said was a raid on a flat where about 15 rebels were hiding.
Lt. Gen. Eduardo Ano, the armed forces chief of staff, said nearly 50 gunmen entered Marawi City, which has a population of about 200,000, and burned houses and other buildings to sow confusion during the fighting, the Associated Press reported.
One group of fighters took up positions near a hospital, where they raised a black ISIS style flag, while others battled troops and police near a provincial jail.‘The whole of Marawi City is blacked out,’ Lorenzana said. ‘There is no light, and there are Maute snipers all around,’ so the Philippine troops are holding their positions. He said reinforcements would arrive Wednesday.
ISIS has taken over a city in the Philippines #PrayForMarawi pic.twitter.com/3rCIsAgVBz
— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) May 23, 2017
JUST IN: President Duterte halts Russia trip; tells Putin there is still fighting in the Philippines and expects Russian support
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) May 23, 2017
