“A mosque, about 100 metres behind the house, was the venue for an annual gathering in Marawi of Tablighi Jamaat, a Sunni missionary movement, just days before the fighting erupted. Military officials say the foreigners who fought in Hapilon’s alliance – among them Indonesians, Malaysians and some from Arab states – had used that event as a cover to slip into Marawi without raising suspicion.”
Tablighi Jamaat is legal in the and operates freely in the U.S., as well as in the U.K., where it has a significant presence.
Meanwhile, why did these jihadis have Qur’ans? Don’t they know that the Islamic State has nothing whatsoever to do with Islam? H.R. McMaster, call your office!
“Exclusive – Koran, boots and scarves all that remain in Philippine rebel leader’s lair,” by Martin Petty, Reuters, October 28, 2017 (thanks to The Religion of Peace)
MARAWI CITY, Philippines (Reuters) – Prayer mats, chequered scarves, black fatigues, and bullet-ridden walls mark the hideout where the “emir” of Islamic State in Southeast Asia spent months preparing the most brazen and devastating militant attack in the region.
A four-storey house in a quiet alley of Marawi City in the southern Philippines was the secret lair of Isnilon Hapilon until late May. After a botched military raid to apprehend him, a thousand-strong rebel alliance held large parts of the city for five months.
Hapilon’s death in a military operation elsewhere in Marawi on Oct. 16 was the catalyst for the end of Philippines’ longest and most intense urban battle in recent history.
Security forces moved in on the house on May 23, trying to capture the country’s most wanted man, but came under sustained attack from rebels firing rocket-propelled grenades.
A bomb-battered structure, shattered windows and wall-to-wall holes from machine gun fire tell the story of the ferociousthree-day [sic] battle that erupted at Hapilon’s hideout, and promptedthe [sic] call to hundreds of fighters to expedite the plannedtakeover [sic] of Marawi.
Hapilon escaped through a large hole that was blasted out of a rear wall, making his way across a rice field to a mosque next to the vast Lake Lanao. From there, he joined the guerrillas.
Community volunteers on Thursday showed Reuters the house in the now empty, narrow street where the military believes Hapilon had lain low for several months. All other properties were intact and neighbours had fled long ago.
“At the time, no one knew who these people were. People saw them about but there was no reason to suspect anything,” said Mohammed Seddick Raki, who lived nearby.
Other volunteers said women and children stayed at the rented house and visitors were frequent.
Children’s shoes were scattered amid the debris and a woman’s robe was hanging from a window.
BATTLE READY
Inside the house, black shirts, pants and plaid scarves synonymous with Islamic State were strewn across rooms littered with broken floor tiles and chunks of rock from blasted walls.
Left behind were waterproof boots, a balaclava, medical supplies and camouflage bags and waistcoats typically used by soldiers to carry rifle magazines.
Coated in a think layer of dust on floors of every room were pocket-sized copies of the Koran, some with pages stained by water leaked through gaping holes in the roof.
A mosque, about 100 metres behind the house, was the venue for an annual gathering in Marawi of Tablighi Jamaat, a Sunni missionary movement, just days before the fighting erupted.
Military officials say the foreigners who fought in Hapilon’s alliance – among them Indonesians, Malaysians and some from Arab states – had used that event as a cover to slip into Marawi without raising suspicion….
Mac-101 says
Sounds like Duarte needs to increase BOTH wars, his war on Drugs and Terrorism!
gravenimage says
Actually, Duterte regularly pals around with Jihad leaders, and was slow and loathe to take any action in Marawi City after its takeover by Jihadists.
He is brutal, but his reputation for principled toughness is generally unwarranted.
Flavius Claudius Iulianus says
Good to know. I always thought he was one of the good guys. I didn’t know he chummed around with jihadi leaders. I did notice that after he gave the army the okay to destroy mosques, it took them no time to take back the city.
gravenimage says
Yeah–I wish he were a good guy, too.
J says
To: Mac-101
In case you were referring to the President of the Philippines, his family name is Duterte, not Duarte.
Have a good day.
gravenimage says
This is a common misspelling of his name, at least in the US.
Of more concern is Mac’s belief that Duterte is a consistent Anti-Jihadist, when he has proven to be anything but.
Blurb1000 says
Hm.. not Retarderte?
gravenimage says
Jihadis slipped into Philippines without arousing suspicion: they were attending an Islamic conference
……………………..
How often is just this going on, all over the world?
Gail griffin says
So these foreign jihadist took a plane ride to the PI. ???. I wouldnot want to be on those planes.
Terrible Teddy says
what does all this junk DNA ‘confer’ about anyway? their creed is so vacuous they’d be left staring out the windows after the first five minutes . .
warren raymond says
Battle Won, War Not Over:
the Philippines’ government is still in the process of working towards putting a law, the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), in place that would create an Islamic autonomous region in the south. The region would be given its own executive, legislative, and fiscal powers.
“If it is passed though, you can sign an entire area over to Islamic law, Islamic control. So, that raises some questions,” Nettleton shares.
“Obviously, questions of religious freedom. Questions of how Christians in that area will be treated. So, there are a lot of questions that the Philippines is still going to be answering in the coming months.”
So there goes the Philippines. Winning a battle only to turn the city over to sharia adherents who do whatever the Mosqueteers would have done is idiotic. Is anyone awake?
warren raymond says
Sorry, forgot to post the link:
http://sheikyermami.com/2017/10/philippine-military-wins-battle-only-to-turn-region-over-to-sharia/
gravenimage says
The city already had many aspects of Shari’ah law *before* it was taken over by ISIS.
I imagine these “negotiations” will make it even worse.
Voytek Gagalka says
Perhaps they have Korans not yet properly vetted by the office of Gen. McMaster, nor those approved by government of Saudi Arabia which expressed recently desire to vet all violent verses of Koran and Hadith.
MFritz says
This is one of the very next places on earth that will go to jihad hell! Think of Somalia. Or they go the slow way of “compromise” and turn into another Indonesia – slowly throttling any other culture and religion by becoming an islamic state under sharia.
Coach says
After 1400 years of deception, you would think we could catch on?
Guy Forester says
I have an article by a US Army training officer in my personal archives that points out how we need to get ready for more urban combat. That was written about 15 years ago. It looks like the PI soldiers were not really ready for this. House was not surrounded or else he was allowed to escape. Upper story pulverized, lower story intact. The Army in Iraq learned how to take down a similar type of building with a LAW rocket by hitting the lower story. Oh well.
Maybe this will change Duterte’s plan for autonomy for the south, which would basically run on Islamic Law. Nah, what are a few major urban street battles? The US is still the problem. I wonder, did the rebels use AK’s or AR’s, and where did they come from?
gravenimage says
Wait–you think that the US is the problem, but have no issue with violent Muslims? Why?
Guy Forester says
Duterte keeps blaming the US, for his military weakness, and has been working on closer ties with China and Russia. He seems to forget about the communist and muslim insurgencies in the past that required US help to defeat. If he thinks that China and Russia will work to strengthen the RP, he has a big surprise coming. Meanwhile, he still seems to think that letting the Islamic MNLF and Abu Sayyaf run Mindanao will be a good idea. I wonder what is in his coffee in the morning.