southern city that experts called a major blow to regional security.
Duterte said
the presence of foreign fighters in street battles that have raged since
Tuesday in Marawi City was proof that Islamic State had gained a foothold on
the restive island of Mindanao, but there was still a chance for peace.
"You
can say that the ISIS is here already," Duterte told soldiers in nearby
Iligan City, referring to Islamic State.
"My
message mainly to the terrorists on the other side is we can still solve this
through dialogue. And if you cannot be convinced to stop fighting, so be it.
Let's just fight."
Special
forces commandoes were deployed to drive out the remaining 20 to 30 Maute group
rebels holed-up in Marawi but encountered heavy resistance on Friday. The army
said 11 soldiers and 31 militants have been killed.
Fighting
erupted on Tuesday after a bungled raid by security forces on a Maute hideout,
which spiraled into chaos, with gunmen seizing bridges, roads and buildings and
taking Christians hostage. Duterte responded by declaring martial law
throughout his home island of Mindanao.
Rohan
Gunaratna, a Singapore-based security expert, said the siege was a wake-up call
for the Philippines.
"Islamic
State capturing a major city in the Philippines is a very significant blow to
the security and stability of this region," he said.
"The
Filipinos need to get their act together ... They must understand the truth
that IS ideology took hold in their country. The local groups have
transformed."
Malaysians,
Indonesians and other foreigners were among the guerrillas killed on Thursday,
which the government said demonstrated how the Philippines could become a haven
for overseas militants.
The White
House on Thursday said it backed the Philippine fight against "cowardly
terrorists".
Duterte has
warned of "contamination" by Islamic State, exploiting the poverty,
lawlessness and porous borders of predominantly Muslim areas of Mindanao island
to establish a base for radicals from Southeast Asia and beyond.
He has
pleaded with political and Islamic leaders to keep foreign and local militants
at bay. Months of air and ground offensives in Mindanao have not dented their
resolve.
FOREIGN
INVASION
"What's
happening in Mindanao is no longer a rebellion of Filipino citizens,"
Solicitor General Jose Calida told reporters in explaining why martial law was
imposed.
"It has
transmogrified into invasion by foreign terrorists, who heeded the call of the
ISIS to go to the Philippines if they find difficulty in going to Iraq and
Syria."
Most of
Marawi's 200,000 inhabitants fled after the gunmen ran amok on Tuesday, seizing
and torching buildings, freeing militants from jails and taking a priest and
churchgoers hostage at the city's cathedral.Duterte has dealt with separatist
unrest during his 22 years as a mayor in Mindanao but the Maute's rise and
signs that it has ties to another group, the Abu Sayyaf, present one of the
biggest challenges of a presidency won on promises to fight drugs and
lawlessness.
Philippine
intelligence indicates the two groups from different parts of Mindanao are
connected, through Isnilon Hapilon, a leader of a radical faction of Abu
Sayyaf.
Abu Sayyaf
has a track record of banditry, piracy and violence, while the lesser-known
Maute group has proven itself a fierce battlefield opponent for the military,
able to sustain air and artillery bombardments and regroup after heavy losses.
Hapilon was
the target of Tuesday's botched raid and Duterte said Islamic State in the
Middle East had anointed him as its man in the Philippines, and Hapilon was
revered as its leader.
Military
chief General Eduardo Ano said the fierce resistance by the Maute in Marawi was
to protect Hapilon, who was in poor condition after being wounded in a January
air strike.
"If we
capture him, all the better. But if he fights back we have to do what is
necessary," he told reporters.
Convoys of
vehicles packed with evacuees and protected by soldiers streamed into Iligan.
Mark Angelou Siega, a Christian, described how students fled their campus.
"We
were so scared and so were our Muslim brothers and sisters. We were sure they
would get to us," he said.
"These
terrorists are not real Muslims."
Calida said
the Maute group and Islamic State were radicalizing young Muslims and the
government was not the only target of their aggression.
"People
they consider as infidels, whether Christians or Muslims, are also
targets," he said.
(This
version of the story corrects references to Mindanao being native island of
Duterte and predominantly Muslim, in paragraphs 6 and 12)
REUTERS
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