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Philippine troops raise flag as bombs fall on Islamist-held city
 [DAWN] Embattled Philippine troops struggling to force out Islamist gunnies from a southern city raised the national flag for Independence Day on Monday, in a tearful ceremony dedicated to the scores killed during the conflict.Thousands of Philippine soldiers, advised by US Special Forces, are locked in fierce combat with hundreds of Death Eaters who overran Marawi city on May 23, flying black flags of the hard boy Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... (IS) group and using up to 2,000 civilians as human shields. As gunfire rang out and planes flew bombing raids to pummel districts of the largely-abandoned city, a crowd of soldiers and officials gathered outside a nearby government building to raise the Philippine flag. "This is dedicated to soldiers who offered their lives to implement our mission in Marawi city," said Colonel Jose Maria Cuerpo, commander of a Philippine Army brigade fighting in Marawi. The annual ceremony marks the anniversary of an armed revolt against Spanish colonial rule. Fighting in the city has left 58 soldiers and police and more than 20 civilians dead, the military said, estimating that almost 200 gunnies have been killed in the festivities. Tens of thousands have fled Marawi, which is the Catholic country's most important Moslem city, since troops unexpectedly interrupted plans by the fighters to take over Marawi in a spectacular event to show that IS had arrived in the Philippines. President Rodrigo Duterte has said the hard boy attack was part of a wider plot by IS to establish a base in the southern region of Mindanao, and declared martial law there to quell the threat. But the military has struggled to defeat the heavily-armed gunnies, who have used hostages and pre-existing bomb-proof tunnels to entrench their positions. Posted by: Fred 2017-06-13 |
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