Some two weeks after ISIS-backed militants took control Marawi city leading Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte to declare martial law on the island of Mindanao, the violence appears to be far from over. On May 23, Duterte placed the 22 million residents of Mindanao under military rule for at least the 60 days, after a raid to capture a terror suspect in the city
failed, causing violence to erupt and Muslim extremists to siege the city.Once a thriving metropolis, reports indicate that Marawi is nearly uninhabitable, with corpses strewn throughout the streets and armed militants threatening the lives of those who remain. Jihadists seized at least one Catholic church in the city, taking a priest and parishioners hostage. READ MORE
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