Islamist gunmen have taken hostages including a Catholic priest in the Philippines shortly after President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law to combat extremism.
Members of the ISIS-inspired Maute Islamist group forced their way into the Cathedral of Our Lady Help in Marawi and abducted church staff, worshipers and the priest Father Chito Suganob.
The attackers are reported to have torched the building on the day it was supposed to be celebrating the feast of its patron saint.
‘They have threatened to kill the hostages if the government forces unleashed against them are not recalled,’ Archbishop Socrates Villegas said in a statement.
Duterte announced on Tuesday night that martial law had been imposed across the southern region of Mindanao, after Islamist militants rampaged through the city of Marawi and engaged in deadly clashes with security forces.
The fighting in Marawi, a mostly Muslim-populated city of 200,000 people, erupted on Tuesday afternoon after security forces raided a house where they believed Isnilon Hapilon, a leader of the infamous Abu Sayyaf kidnap gang and Philippine head of ISIS was hiding.
The United States regards Hapilon as one of the world’s most dangerous terrorists, offering a bounty of $5million for his capture.
More than 100 gunmen responded to the raid by burning buildings and conducting other diversionary tactics, according to Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.
Security analysts say Hapilon has been trying to unite Filipino militant groups that have professed allegiance to IS.
These include the Maute group, named after two brothers who lead it and which is based near Marawi.
At the time of his capture, Father Chito was in the performance of his ministry as a priest,’ Archbishop Villegas said.
‘He was not a combatant. He was not bearing arms. He was a threat to none. His capture and that of his companions violates every norm of civilised conflict.’
Police and military spokesmen were not immediately available to comment on Villegas’s report of the hostage taking.
Source: Islamist gunmen hostages Catholic priest Philippines | Daily Mail Online
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