[BBC] US special forces are helping the Philippine military retake the southern city of Marawi from IS-linked militants, the Philippine army says.
The forces are providing technical help and are not fighting, it said.
President Rodrigo Duterte had earlier threatened to throw out US troops amid strained relations since taking office.
Militants have been under siege since rampaging through the southern city on 23 May. The latest fighting has claimed the lives of 13 Philippine marines.
Hundreds of militants, who have been flying the black flag of so-called Islamic State and are led by the self-styled IS emir of the southern Philippines, Isnilon Hapilon, and the Maute brothers Omar and Abdullah, are still holed up in the city.
The latest casualties bring the number of Philippine troops killed in the fighting to 58.
At least 138 militants and 20 civilians have also been killed, the government says.
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Besoeker ||
06/10/2017 08:20 ||
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[SUNSTAR.PH] THE four tossed in the calaboose Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! individuals including the Maute patriarch, who are linked to the notorious Maute Terror Group, were transferred to a detention facility in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City on Wednesday evening, June 7. The transfer was made for "security purposes," while the driver was already released after authorities found no sufficient evidence.
Brigadier General Gilbert Gapay, Martial law spokesperson in Eastern Mindanao Command (Easmincom), told news hounds in a presser on Thursday, at The Royal Mandaya Hotel that around 9:45 p. m. , June 7, Maute group head Cayamora Maute, 67, along with his daughter Norjannah Balawag Maute and her husband Benzarali Tinglao, and Cayamora's second wife Kongan were flown from Davao City to Manila, hours after cases were filed against them.
"It is for security reasons that he was transferred. He is the patriarch, the head of the Maute clan and he is considered a high value individual, at the same time, high-risk individual also. That's why we opted to transfer him to Manila," Gapay said.
They were transported through the C130 aircraft of the Philippine Air Force.
Gapay said Cayamora has a large participation in the formation of the group and the recent attack of the Maute Group in Marawi City.
After the inquest proceedings, the driver, Aljon Ismale Salaxar, was released while the rest were charged for illegal possession of firearms and explosives after a caliber . 45 and hand grenade were recovered inside the black Toyota Grandia van when they were nabbed at the checkpoint in Sirawan, Toril. Also found in their possession are P363,000 cash and personal belongings.
Maute already had a warrant of arrest for rebellion. He was included in the list of the faceless myrmidons in an arrest order issued by the Department of National Defense (DND) secretary Delfin Lorenzana.
"In Maranao if you are the patriarch, your influence in your family is very great, very strong that's why [siya] yung [nagbibigay ng] guidance and direction [to the group])," Gapay said.
[SUNSTAR.PH] A CATHOLIC priest called the recent attack of the Maute terrorist rebels against the church in Marawi City group as "desecration" to the Catholic faith after they destroyed the religious statues and torched down the church amid the crisis.
Former Davao Archbishop Emeritus Fernando Capalla, in Friday's Hermes Club press forum at Waterfront Insular Hotel, slammed the terrorist group who pledged alliance with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) in their recent attack on the Catholic Church in Maraw City.
"It was a desecration. According to Marawi Bishop Edwin del Pe¤a, it is demonic, only devil can do that to give brutal disrespect to something that we consider holy," Capalla said, pertaining to the video that circulated in social media showing how the notorious rebel group smashed the sacred images of the church and setting St. Mary's Cathedral in Marawi City on fire.
[SUNSTAR.PH] THE Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is hopeful that Marawi City will finally be liberated on Monday, June 12, which is also the 119th Independence Day of the Republic.
During Friday’s Mindanao Hour press briefing in Manila, AFP spokesperson Restituto Padilla, said they are “feverishly working” on a target of raising the Philippine flag in Marawi City on Monday, the 119th year of Philippine Independence from Spanish colonial control.
“Rest assured, our soldiers are doing their part, they’re doing their best and are continuing on with this effort on the ground to facilitate the liberation of Marawi hopefully by Monday,” Padilla said.
Padilla said the resistance put up by the terrorist may have weakened by that day.
On Thursday, government soldiers began a final push to flush the terrorist out of Marawi, expected to conclude after four days.
Asked on the basis of the assessment, the AFP official said there was an offensive launched on Friday morning against enemy positions.
“So this continues up to this moment and we are confident our troops are gaining important headway inside these areas. And as I have mentioned the other day, definitely proving that the world of the terrorists inside the city is growing smaller by the day,” he said.
Padilla also noted that the volume of fire coming from the enemy has decreased and enemy activity in areas where so much has been monitored has dwindled, and sniper fire has been very selective. He said the end game is to have Isnilon Hapilon and the Maute brothers arrested “if we can arrest them.”
“But if we cannot, then to neutralize them, because I guess they will always fight it to the end,” he said. “So the liberation of Marawi will only be when every armed element in the city is gone,” the AFP official said.
[SUNSTAR.PH] AUTHORITIES found high-powered firearms, ammunitions, and illegal drugs in one of the houses owned by former Marawi City mayor Fajad Umpar "Pre" Salic in Cagayan de Oro City on Thursday.
The raid was conducted after Salic's arrest in Villanueva town, Misamis Oriental, Wednesday night. He was arrested for rebellion.
Police Regional Office-Northern Mindanao spokesperson Lemuel Gonda said members of the Martial Law Special Action Group (MLSag) raided Salic's two houses at Xavier Estates Subdivision on Thursday, June 8, and found 10 medium-size sachets of suspected crystal meth (locally known as shabu), 120 live ammunition, four M203 high explosive, and an M16 rifle.
Gonda said Salic and his daughter-in-law both refused to sign the search warrant receipt. MLSag members found the illegal items in Salic's house at Phase 1, Butong Street. His house at Phase 4 Golden Rod Street, in the said subdivision, yielded no prohibited items.
The MLSag is composed of the 4th Infantry Division, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG)-Northern Mindanao; Police Regional Office-Northern Mindanao; Cagayan de Oro City Police Office; Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Northern Mindanao; and other intelligence units.
The CIDG will take charge of the filing of lawsuits against Salic while his detention remain at the criminal investigation group's jail facility.
Salic is among the over 100 personalities listed in the Arrest Order issued by the Department of National Defense for rebellion charges under the Article 134 of the Revised Penal Code.
Salic is related to the Mautes by marriage. His wife, Rasmia Salic, is the niece of Farhana Romato Maute, mother of Abdullah and Omarkhayyam Maute.
The Maute brothers are said to be among the top leaders of Dawlah Islamiya, one of the groups that pledged loyalty to the extremist Islamic State.
[SUNSTAR.PH] THREE Abu Sayyaf ...also known as al-Harakat al-Islamiyya, an Islamist terror group based in Jolo, Basilan and Zamboanga. Since its inception in the early 1990s, the group has carried out bombings, kidnappings, murders, head choppings, and extortion in their uniquely Islamic attempt to set up an independent Moslem province in the Philippines. Abu Sayyaf forces probably number less than 300 cadres. The group is closely allied with remnants of Indonesia's Jemaah Islamiya and has loose ties with MILF and MNLF who sometimes provide cannon fodder... Group (ASG) bandidos surrendered Thursday afternoon, June 8, for fear of their lives, as military offensive continue against them in Basilan ...Basilan is a rugged, jungle-covered island in the southern Philippines. It is a known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf, bandidos, and maybe even orcs. Most people with any sense travel with armed escorts... province, the military said.
Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Bacala, 4th Special Forces Battalion commander of the Philippine Army, identified the surrenderers as Abdulla Kalitut, 35, Natim Alamin, 25, and Adzmil Alamin, 20. Bacala said they have turned over an M-16 Armalite, two Garand rifles and several rounds of ammunition.
The three bandidos are followers of ASG sub-leader Nurhassan Jamiri. Kalitut has a P600,000 bounty for his arrest and is listed as number four in the group of Jamiri, Bacala said. He said Kalitut told them they decided to yield to the government forces after experiencing hardship due to sustained military offensive in Basilan province.
"We are always on the run from the military. We do not have decent sleep or food. We are tired. We miss our families. We miss having a normal life," Kalitut said.
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Fred ||
06/10/2017 00:00 ||
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Scorecards! Gitcher scorecards here! You can't tell the players without a scorecard!
[MANILATIMES.NET] WHEN President Duterte mentioned in a talk that imported muscle would regroup in Mindanao after their rout in the Middle East, I greeted the statement with some skepticism. But with the Marawi incident and the discovery of imported muscle among the Maute band, I thought that the President must be some sort of Nostradamus.
As background, the Maute group, also known as the IS-Ranao, which figured prominently in the Marawi siege, is a radical Islamist group composed of former guerrillas of the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guand some imported muscle. The group is led by Abdullah Maute, the alleged founder of a Dawlah Islamiya, or 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 Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... based in Lanao del Sur, Mindanao, Philippines. The group already figured in a clash with Army troops in February 2016 that ended with the capture of their headquarters in Butig, Lanao del Sur. The group is thought to have over 100 members and was supplied with equipment by a foreign terrorist. They are said to be affiliated with Jemaah Islamiyah, a Southeast Asian Islamist terror group.
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Fred ||
06/10/2017 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
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Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
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[SUNSTAR.PH] A CATHOLIC priest called the recent attack of the Maute terrorist rebels against the church in Marawi City group as "desecration" to the Catholic faith after they destroyed the religious statues and torched down the church amid the crisis.
[SUNSTAR.PH] THE Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is hopeful that Marawi City will finally be liberated on Monday, June 12, which is also the 119th Independence Day of the Republic.
