Philippine MPs To Vote On Martial Law Extension Bid

MANILA, , (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Jul, 2017 ) - The Philippine Congress opened a special session Saturday to vote on President Rodrigo Duterte's bid for an extension of martial law in the south to defeat Islamist gunmen.

Duterte is widely expected to win approval for martial law in the region until the end of the year, with troops having failed to wrest back Marawi city following two months of fighting. A slide presentation accompanying Duterte's request, seen by AFP, compared the Marawi crisis to the Islamic State takeover of the Iraqi city of Mosul.

Marawi itself could now become a magnet for foreign fighters in Iraq and Syria, it said. Most of the militants' leaders remain at large, the presentation added, while about 90 of the gunmen have slipped past security cordons and can link up with other armed groups in the region to mount similar widescale attacks.

At the hearing, defence and security officials justified the need for martial law, saying that aside from Marawi, Islamist militants were planning attacks in other parts of the southern Philippines.