PHILIPPINES CRISIS
Militants execute and ‘enslave’ civilians in Philippines
Marawi, Philippines — Islamist militants holding parts of a Philippines city are killing civilians who try to flee while using others as orderlies and cooks, the authorities said on Tuesday after the gunmen boasted about executions. Up to 1,000 people are still trapped in the parts of Marawi city that the militants control, the government said, three weeks after fighting erupted with gunmen going on a rampage and flying black flags of the Islamic State group. The militants have defied a US-backed military onslaught which has seen relentless bombing of the residential areas of Marawi where they are holed up. Authorities say 400 gunmen are estimated to be still there and using civilians as slaves. "Based on the revelations of the trapped civilians we have recovered [rescued], they are being used as orderlies to cook their food, to carry their munitions," local military spokesman Lt-Col Jo-ar Herrera said. At least 26 civilians, 58 police or soldiers and 202 militants have been killed,...
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