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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law Tuesday in the southern region of Mindanao, after deadly clashes between security forces and Islamic State group-linked militants in a major city there.
The announcement, made by his spokesman at a press conference in Moscow where Duterte was on an official visit, fulfills an often-repeated warning by the president that he would enforce military rule to quell security threats. "As of 10:00pm Manila time (1400 GMT) Duterte has declared martial law for the entire island of Mindanao," spokesman Ernesto Abella said in the nationally televised briefing. Abella said martial law would be in place for 60 days, in line with constitutional limits on the use of military rule.
Martial law is particularly sensitive in the Philippines because it was used by dictator Ferdinand Marcos to remain in power during his two-decade reign, which ended in 1986 with a "People Power" revolution.
Mindanao is made up of a large island of the same name, plus smaller islands, and the region of about 20 million people makes up roughly one third of the mainly Catholic country.
[...] The announcement came after security forces battled dozens of IS-linked gunmen in a built-up area of Marawi, a city of about 200,000 people in Mindanao, on Tuesday.
Source: Yahoo! News
In the Philippines, concerns are mounting over the proliferation of Islamic State affiliates on the southern islands of Mindanao. Jihadist groups in the region have been coalescing under the extremist group's flag since the head of Abu Sayyaf, Isnilon Hapilon, declared his allegiance to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2014. Less than a decade earlier, Mindanao's various Islamic State affiliates were a jumble of local gangs engaged in criminal activity under the dubious banner of jihad.
By adopting the Islamic State's moniker and mimicking some of its tactics, Hapilon and other jihadist leaders in the Philippines have gained legitimacy, along with notoriety, as part of a well-known, transnational movement. But beyond that, the benefits of taking up the Islamic State banner have been marginal.
Source: Stratfor article published earlier this year.
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(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 26 2017, @11:34PM (7 children)
Dutuerte is from Mindanao. He made his bones as a mini-authoritarian running the region, frequently in conflict with these same muslim rebels. Who themselves have been fighting against the government since decades before Marcos was kicked out. They pretty much want their own self-governing country because the rest of the philippines is hyper-catholic, like more catholic than the Pope. A couple of years ago one of the biggest rebel factions made peace with government, they had a great name to - the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF [wikipedia.org]). But shit is complicated and kind of, sort of, like the UK peace with the IRA not everybody was in agreement for a variety of reasons, some idealistic some corrupt. So here we are.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by cubancigar11 on Saturday May 27 2017, @02:40AM (6 children)
That might be true in this case, but there is no place in the world where Muslim minorities with local majority are not in armed conflict with rest of the country. It is true all over the world. Having said that, I am not a big fan of the catholic Filipinos either and precisely because I know their extremist Catholicism all very well. Still, it is always the Muslims who fail to find a peaceful solution.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 27 2017, @03:07AM (5 children)
lolwut?
You getting your talking points from breitbart?
Being from India myself I can say you are full of shit.
Mozambique, Tanzania, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, etc too.
(Score: 2) by cubancigar11 on Saturday May 27 2017, @07:50AM (4 children)
And have you actually talked to anyone from those countries? Because I have and what I said still holds true. I have stopped reading western publications for a number of years but apparently "Being from India" still cannot make you fathom that, or stop you from invoking Brietbart-reader boogeyman.
Anyway, the north and middle African nations are notoriously home to armed conflict because of multitude of reasons, and religion being one of them. Their boundary was established by western colonists under whose rule land-owning christians and poor muslims were drafted into one nation, and land-owning muslims and poor christians were drafted into another, on historical racial basis and without taking into account of the present reality. If you talk to educated Africans they will right out blame the divide-and-rule policy of western colonizers. But for the purpose of this discussion - what I wrote is still demonstrably correct.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 27 2017, @12:51PM (1 child)
WTF? Did you just try to eurosplain to me about muslims in India?
Clue for you mister dumbfuck — I am a muslim from india.
As for your hand-waving about africa, WTF? None of what you wrote in anyway creates organized conflict by minority muslim populations in the listed countries.
Seriously, what the hell is wrong with you? You were totally fucking wrong, own it.
(Score: 2) by cubancigar11 on Saturday May 27 2017, @06:09PM
WTF indeed. Please try to tell me where I am talking about Muslims in India. Ever heard about the Kashmir conflict? Kashmir is the only state of India where the minority Muslims are in local majority. Ever heard of Assam? What I am saying, you know it very well, being a Muslim in India. Guess what, Islam does have a problem of not being able to check its extremists. Own it, fix it.
And I don't know what is "eurosplain". The point a logical person would read into - the point I was trying to make - was that conflicts can have non-religious beginnings, but only Islam has a problem of constantly giving into armed conflicts.
And one advice - start talking like a mature person and not like a triggered harpies on twitter. Here is what I wrote: "Muslim minorities with local majority". You brought up Africa as peaceful countries with minority Muslim population. I told you that among those countries, wherever Muslims are in local majority they are in armed conflict. I also showed you that it may not be because of religious differences, but that doesn't change the FACT.
I don't care about your emotions. HTH
I was totally fucking right and you need to cut down on rhetoric if you want me to say something otherwise.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 27 2017, @04:23PM (1 child)
Lol! Did you just try to tell an indian that you know more about India than he does?
And then did you just claim that you know more about africa because you do not read but you once talked to a black guy?
And why bring up all that colonalism? It sounds like you are blaming any conflict in africa on westerners, not muslims. But in the end you pretend nothing you wrote matters and that it really is all the muslims fault. Logic!
Maybe you aren't reading breitbart, but you sure channeling their bullshit.
(Score: 2) by cubancigar11 on Saturday May 27 2017, @05:57PM
No :| Such stupidity, much reading comprehension failure!
No? English motherfucker, do you speak it?
Where are you reading all this? Sometimes, you know, if it "sounds" like it, it is probably your mind playing games.
I know the word - triggered! That's what you are. Get going to your safe space before you say something even more stupid.