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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Philippines’ Duterte apologises for urban war

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Iligan: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte apologised on Tuesday for a military offensive that has left the nation’s main city in ruins, but said it was needed to crush militants linked to the IS group.


Duterte also vowed that US-backed air strikes on Marawi would continue, as the conflict entered its fifth week with no sign of an end and its reported death toll climbed towards 370.


“I am very, very, very sorry that this happened to us. I hope that soon you will find it in your heart to forgive my soldiers and government and even me,” Duterte said in a speech at an evacuation centre near Marawi for people who have fled the fighting.


The fighting has seen Marawiturn from a bustling trading centre into one resembling war-torn cities in Iraq or Syria.


It began when hundreds of militants waving black IS flags rampaged through Marawi on May 23, torching buildings and taking Christian hostages.


Duterte immediately imposed martial law across the entire southern region of Mindanao, home to 20 million people, saying the assault was the start of an IS bid to establish a caliphate there.


— AFP


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