Duterte threatens to impose martial law

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte threatened Wednesday to impose martial law nationwide to combat the rising threat of terrorism, after Islamist militants beheaded a policeman and took Catholic hostages while rampaging through a southern city.

Duterte declared martial law on Tuesday for the southern region of Mindanao in an immediate response to the attacks by the gunmen, who have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.

The roughly 100 militants roamed through Marawi city, killing five soldiers, taking a priest and an unspecified number of other people hostage from a church, setting fire to buildings and flying black IS flags, according to Duterte and his aides.