Philippine army battles militants

Raid on hideout of leader linked to IS leads to combat; 21 killed

MARAWI, Philippines — Army tanks packed with soldiers rolled into a southern Philippine city today as gunfire and explosions rang out after militants linked to the Islamic State group torched buildings, seized more than a dozen Catholic hostages and raised the black flag of IS.

At least 21 people have died in fighting that erupted late Tuesday, when the army raided the Marawi hideout of Isnilon Hapilon, who is on Washington’s list of mostwanted terrorists and has a $5 million bounty on his head.

The operation went wrong as the militants called in reinforcements and swept through the mostly Muslim city of 200,000 people. Hapilon’s whereabouts were not clear, but there was no indication he was captured in the raid.

President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law across the southern third of the nation and warned he may expand it nationwide. He vowed to be “harsh.” “If I think that you should die, you will die,” he said Wednesday. “If you fight us, you will die. If there is open defiance, you will die. And if it means many people dying, so be it.”

As details of the attack in Marawi emerged, fears mounted that the largest Roman Catholic nation in Asia could be falling into a growing list of countries grappling with the spread of influence from the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.

Thousands of people were fleeing the city today, jamming their belongings into cars. Plumes of black smoke rose in the distance and two air force helicopters could be seen flying over the city center.