Duterte declares state of emergency as ISIS militants BEHEAD police chief and take Catholic priest hostage alongside worshippers in the Philippines, hours after martial law is brought in

Wednesday, May 24, 2017
By Paul Martin

Fighting between Islamists and soldiers erupted in the city of Marawi yesterday
It was sparked by a raid on the house of Isnilon Hapilon, the Filipino head of ISIS
President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law on the bottom half of the island
ISIS-inspired group Maute responded by taking priest and worshipers hostage
A Filipino Archbishop today warned the group threatened to kill the abductees

By JAY AKBAR
DailyMail.com
24 May 2017

Islamist gunmen who took a Catholic priest and churchgoers hostage in the Philippines have beheaded the city’s local police chief, President Rodrigo Duterte has said.

Members of the ISIS-inspired Maute Islamist group stormed the Cathedral of Our Lady Help, in Marawi city on Mindanao island, and abducted church staff including Father Chito Suganob and worshipers.

‘They have threatened to kill the hostages if the government forces unleashed against them are not recalled,’ Filipino Archbishop Socrates Villegas said in a statement.

President Duterte, who declared martial law in parts of Mindanao after militants clashed with soldiers in Marawi yesterday, says he may extend it to other parts of the country if extremists seek sanctuary elsewhere.

‘We are in state of emergency,’ he told reporters in Manila after a state visit to Moscow, adding he would deal with militants ‘harshly’.

Chilling photos on social media purported to show Maute gunmen planting an ISIS-style black and white flag on top of a building in the middle of the city.

‘At the time of his capture, Father Chito was in the performance of his ministry as a priest,’ Archbishop Villegas said.
‘He was not a combatant. He was not bearing arms. He was a threat to none. His capture and that of his companions violates every norm of civilised conflict.’

But Marawi Mayor Majul Usman Gandamra has refused to confirm reports the terror group took hostages and insisted that the local government has the situation under control.

In a telephone interview with national broadcaster ANC, Gandamra said he was working with the military to bring peace and order to the city.

Police and military spokesmen were not immediately available to comment on Villegas’s report of the hostage taking.

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