Philippine troops raise flag as bombs fall on Islamist-held city

God speed Philippine soldiers! Try not to kill innocents though, including average muslims. Good luck!

wherever IS goes we end up with a bombed out wasteland.  What an ideoiogy.

Another beautiful city turned into a pile of rubble, what a shame.

Even if we did not use airstrikes, Daesh would have bobytrapped the grounds/buildings. I am all for airstrikes, but only when absolutely necessary. A single sniper is not a reason to me. Too much destruction for one (knowingly) enemy combatant. Who knows how many civilians could be killed as well inside or out.

But if you are a commander you do not want your men killed either. An AT-4 or RPG, even a grenade or two, tossed or shot into a room should clear it. You need to clear just the roof or section/level of a building, not the whole thing. Can not an anti-sniper also kill a sniper?

Another beautiful city turned into a pile of rubble, what a shame.

It is a shame, undoubtedly but cities can be rebuilt. People can't.

Good luck to the Philippines in clearing these vipers from their midst!

Even if we did not use airstrikes, Daesh would have bobytrapped the grounds/buildings. I am all for airstrikes, but only when absolutely necessary. A single sniper is not a reason to me. Too much destruction for one (knowingly) enemy combatant. Who knows how many civilians could be killed as well inside or out.

Civilians are the ones who suffer the most. In all conflicts. A region can be engulfed in such internal collisions. The populace end up scattered, killed, fleeing. They have to get away from the madness and then what? Refugees. And how welcome they are, trying to start again in a strange country. The cycle continues.

Sorry to nitpick, John Brown, but when you say "we", who are you referring to?

There are some interesting twists to this fight.

For one, this is taking place in a city that is now virtually abandoned. Within a few days of the onset of hostilities 90% of the local population had evacuated to safe areas. This large scale exodus was in a large part facilitated by an agreement between Duterte and the leadership of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. In a cooperative operation, government and MILF troops established a safe corridor for the evacuees while MILF fighters entered the city and provided armed security while escorting evacuees to safety. There have been reported clashes between Maute Group and MILF fighters.

The MILF is a breakaway group from the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and there is really no love lost between them. Soon after the fighting in Marawi commenced Nur Misuari, the head of the MNLF, contacted Duterte and offered 2000 MNLF fighters to join the Philippine military in the fight against the Maute Group (ISIS) in Marawi.

It's interesting to see the top two competing Muslim liberation movements in the Philippines jump into this fight against ISIS, especially since they are finding themselves aligned with the Philippine military which has been their sworn enemy for decades. One reason for this arrangement might be the presence of foreign fighters among the Maute Group. Filipino fighting Filipino is everyday stuff but when foreigners come on their turf and make trouble, well that's another thing altogether.

This is after all a small island in the Pacific.

There are actually over seven thousand islands in the Philippines, with around two thousand being inhabited.

Most of the islands are pretty small but Mindanao (where Mawari is located) is a little under thirty eight thousand square miles and that isn't really that small. It's bigger than Ireland.

OK, for people who actually want to read up on the Philippine insurgencies like this one, instead of just kept asking questions without actually trying to find answers, the Stanford University studies on world militant organizations will do ya some good:

http://web.stanford.edu/group/mappingmilitants/cgi-bin/groups/view/152

Currently, the ASG has at least a nominal link to the Islamic State (IS). On July 23, 2014, Isnilon Hapilon—an ASG leader—and a group of unidentified men pledged allegiance to IS and to its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in a YouTube video. In another video released days later, a group of men identifying themselves as ASG members also pledged allegiance to IS and Baghdadi. [21] In September 2014, the ASG threatened the lives of two German hostages, demanding that Germany pay a ransom and rescind its support for U.S. attacks on IS. [22]

Scholars and officials, however, including Lieutenant General Rustico Guerrero of the Philippine Army, believe that the ASG has pledged allegiance to IS solely to promote its own interests, rather than those of IS.[23] The ASG had earlier demanded only a ransom for the German hostages, and in October 2014, it released the hostages and reported that ransom had been paid; there was no reported change in German policy toward U.S. attacks on IS. [24] Beyond the oath of allegiance videos, no links between the ASG and IS have been demonstrated. IS does not seem to have given funds or other material support to the ASG. [25]

Let's repeat that, just to make this clear:

"Scholars and officials, however, including Lieutenant General Rustico Guerrero of the Philippine Army, believe that the ASG has pledged allegiance to IS solely to promote its own interests, rather than those of IS... Beyond the oath of allegiance videos, no links between the ASG and IS have been demonstrated. IS does not seem to have given funds or other material support to the ASG."

RESOURCES

The ASG has received money or training from other Islamist militant groups in the past, including Al Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah. [48] Today, the ASG’s main source of funding is criminal activity, to which the group increasingly turned after the decline of funding from foreign sources in the mid-1990s. The ASG is best known for engaging in kidnapping for ransom, and demanding ransom from wealthy families and Western governments that can generate several million dollars per ransom. The ASG also finances itself through blackmail, extortion, smuggling, and marijuana sales. [49]

Besides financially supporting its members, the ASG uses its money primarily to buy weapons and communications equipment. [50] [51] A 2005 Philippine military estimate suggested that the ASG held about 480 weapons, in addition to equipment for night vision capabilities, thermal imaging, speedboats, and more. [52] The ASG has reportedly bought weapons from the AFP, indicating the problem of local military corruption. [53] The ASG has also allegedly obtained weapons from the Infante Organization, a U.S.-Philippines illegal drug and weapons supply group whose leader was arrested in 2003, and from Viktor Bout, an international arms trafficker who also supplied Al Qaeda and Hezbollah before his 2008 arrest. [54] [55]

In concrete terms of material support and operational cooperation, the ASG has the strongest ties with Jemaah Islamiyah, a regional Islamist militant group, from which it receives funds, logistical support, and training. [85] [86]

"Today, the ASG’s main source of funding is criminal activity, to which the group increasingly turned after the decline of funding from foreign sources in the mid-1990s... The ASG also finances itself through blackmail, extortion, smuggling, and marijuana sales."

"The ASG has reportedly bought weapons from the AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippines], indicating the problem of local military corruption. The ASG has also allegedly obtained weapons from the Infante Organization, a U.S.-Philippines illegal drug and weapons supply group whose leader was arrested in 2003, and from Viktor Bout, an international arms trafficker who also supplied Al Qaeda and Hezbollah before his 2008 arrest."

"In concrete terms of material support and operational cooperation, the ASG has the strongest ties with Jemaah Islamiyah, a regional Islamist militant group, from which it receives funds, logistical support, and training."

Conclusion: they already know how to supply themselves without needing ISIS' assistance and even before ISIS' uprising in 2013, through the very porous Philippine southern sea borders. And their biggest support comes from the largest local pan-Southeast Asian Islamist militant group (the one responsible for the infamous 2002 Bali bombing).

Thus, people should put less emphasis on ISIS, and more emphasis on what the group has already been doing before ISIS even came into the picture.

Oh, let's not forget Libya's Col. Qaddafi's hand in this too:

The ASG may have been secretly supported by Libya during the rule of Muammar el-Qaddafi. Qaddafi had previously demonstrated support for the Moro separatist movement in general, for example by sending funds and arms to the MILF. Acting as negotiator, Libya was instrumental in securing the August 2000 release of six hostages, including French citizens and a South African, who were kidnapped by the ASG. In return for the release, a charitable foundation led by Qaddafi’s son gave $25 million in supposed development aid to the Philippines’ southern region, although this money may have actually gone to the ASG. [56] Additionally, despite claims that no ransom was ever given, Qaddafi himself may have paid the ASG $6 million for the six hostages.  [57] While Libya officially denounced the ASG’s kidnapping operations, the ASG reportedly received Libyan money multiple times during Qaddafi’s rule, under the guise of charitable or humanitarian donations.

So, thank Qaddafi too.

Now, was reading up all that hard