Long Tailbacks as Locals Flee Islamist Assault on Marawi City

Residents continued to flee Marawi City in the Philippines on May 25 as security forces clashed with attackers from the Islamic State-linked separatist group Maute.

Official reports said that 44 people had been killed in the fighting by May 26, including 11 soldiers.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has defended the imposition of martial law in the area. He was cited in local press telling the Senate that Maute’s activities “constitute not simply a display of force, but a clear attempt to establish the group’s seat of power in Marawi City for their planned establishment of a Daesh [IS] wilayat or province covering the entire Mindanao.” Credit: Facebook/Jiggy Manicad TV Lectures via Storyful