■ FOREIGNERS AMONG DEAD EXTREMISTS

Military officials are validating information that six foreigners were among the 31 extremists killed in the ongoing gunbattle between government troops and the Maute group in Marawi City in Mindanao; “We received certain information that among the 31 killed, of the 12 identified, at least six of them are foreigners, but we are still validating this information,” Armed Forces of the Philippines ( AFP) spokesperson Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla on Friday; He said the foreigners were believed to be Malaysians and Indonesians. →

Military officials are validating information that six foreigners were among the 31 extremists killed in the ongoing gunbattle between government troops and the Maute group in Marawi City in Mindanao.

“We received certain information that among the 31 killed, of the 12 identified, at least six of them are foreigners, but we are still validating this information,” Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla on Friday.

He said the foreigners were believed to be Malaysians and Indonesians.

This confirmed the statement of Solicitor General Jose Calida that Indonesians and Malaysians were fighting alongside the gunmen who attacked Marawi.

“What is happening in Mindanao is no longer a rebellion of Filipino citizens,” Calida told reporters. “It has transmogrified into an invasion by foreign terrorists who heeded the clarion call of Isis.” Isis refers to international terrorist group Islamic State.

Government troops backed by armored vehicles and rocket-firing helicopters are fighting to re-take control of Marawi, which has been under siege by a group led by Isnilon Hapilon aided by the Maute group.

Hapilon, a former Abu Sayyaf leader, has pledged allegiance to IS and is reportedly the representative of the terror group in the Philippines.

The Maute members have torn through the streets of Marawi since Tuesday night, torching buildings, taking a priest and his worshippers hostage and sealing off much of the city.

The violence forced thousands to flee and raised fears of growing extremism in the country.

At least 44 people have died in the fighting, including 31 militants and 11 soldiers, officials said Thursday. It was not immediately clear whether civilians were among the dead.

In a sign of the confusion over events inside the city, a local police chief told The Associated Press that he was alive and well — two days after President Rodrigo Duterte told the media he had been beheaded by militants.

Police Chief Romeo Enriquez said there may have been confusion because his predecessor in Malabang, a town near Marawi, was killed in the fighting on Tuesday, although he was not beheaded.

Duterte imposed 60 days of martial law in Mindanao effective 10 p.m. of May 23 and warned that he might expand the coverage to the Visayas “because it is walking distance” from Mindanao and to Luzon as well.

This is an unnerving development for many in the Philippines who lived through the rule of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos. Marcos declared martial law in 1972 and used it to maintain his grip on power for more than a decadee.

So far there is no sign of significant, material ties between the local militants and IS.

“We have not seen any concrete evidence of material support from IS,” military spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said Thursday. But he added that the smaller groups “are working to really get that recognition and funds, of course.”