D&S 2017: Manila to continue engaging militants

2nd November 2017 - 14:20 GMT | by Wendell Minnick in Taipei

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Muslim separatists on the southern island of Mindanao have been engaged in an insurgency against Manila since the 1960s, and the Philippine military came a step closer to ending that conflict by retaking Marawi City on 23 October from Islamic insurgents who had captured the city on 23 May.

Three days after declaring the city free of terrorists and insurgents, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte ordered his new chief-of-staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Lt Gen Rey Leonardo Guerrero, to form ten new infantry battalions (approximately 5,000 soldiers) to eradicate remaining insurgents on Mindanao plus the communist New

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Author

Wendell Minnick

Wendell Minnick (顏文德) was Shephard's Senior Asia Correspondent throughout 2017 and 2018. Wendell is an …

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