Alarming Video Reportedly Shows ISIS-Backed Militants Destroying Catholic Church in Philippines

MARAWI CITY, PHILIPPINES - MAY 30: Smoke billows from the city center after an air attack by Philippine government troops on May 30, 2017 in Marawi city, southern Philippines. Philippine government troops are battling their way as they inch towards the city center where ISIS-linked militants have been holed for nearly a week. The fighting at Marawi city had forced around 85,000 people to seek refuge at evacuation centers in Marawi as the week long gun battles between ISIS-linked militants and security troops rose to around 100 with at least 19 civilians being killed in the fighting, according to local media. Filipino authorities announced around 2,000 people had been stranded amid street battles and air strikes while bodies of foreign Islamist militants were discovered during the ongoing battles in the southern city. President Rodrigo Duterte had declared 60 days of martial law in Mindanao on Tuesday after local terrorist groups Maute Group and Abu Sayyaf rampaged through Marawi city and said that martial law could be extended across the Philippines while thousands of residents continue to flee the crisis in Marawi, which is home to some 200,000 people. Jes Aznar/Getty Images
MARAWI CITY, PHILIPPINES - MAY 30: Smoke billows from the city center after an air attack by Philippine government troops on May 30, 2017 in Marawi city, southern Philippines. Philippine government troops are battling their way as they inch towards the city center where ISIS-linked militants have been holed for nearly a week. The fighting at Marawi city had forced around 85,000 people to seek refuge at evacuation centers in Marawi as the week long gun battles between ISIS-linked militants and security troops rose to around 100 with at least 19 civilians being killed in the fighting, according to local media. Filipino authorities announced around 2,000 people had been stranded amid street battles and air strikes while bodies of foreign Islamist militants were discovered during the ongoing battles in the southern city. President Rodrigo Duterte had declared 60 days of martial law in Mindanao on Tuesday after local terrorist groups Maute Group and Abu Sayyaf rampaged through Marawi city and said that martial law could be extended across the Philippines while thousands of residents continue to flee the crisis in Marawi, which is home to some 200,000 people. Jes Aznar/Getty Images
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Some two weeks after ISIS-backed militants took control Marawi city leading Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte to declare martial law on the island of Mindanao, the violence appears to be far from over. On May 23, Duterte placed the 22 million residents of Mindanao under military rule for at least the 60 days, after a raid to capture a terror suspect in the city failed, causing violence to erupt and Muslim extremists to siege the city.

Churches and Hospitals Under Siege, Martial Law Declared as ISIS Overtakes Major Philippine City

Once a thriving metropolis, reports indicate that Marawi is nearly uninhabitable, with corpses strewn throughout the streets and armed militants threatening the lives of those who remain. Jihadists seized at least one Catholic church in the city, taking a priest and parishioners hostage.

A new video released by Islamic State news outlet Amaq appears to show a Catholic church in the city being crudely defaced and ultimately destroyed. In the video (which can be viewed HERE), armed men are seen smashing religious statues, knocking over a crucifix, and ripping up a photo of Pope Francis before setting the building on fire.

Screenshots from the video below: 

The footage comes on the heels of video released last week, which shows a man who appears to be captive Rev. Fr. Teresito Suganob of St. Mary church pleading with the Filipino government to end the conflict.

https://www.facebook.com/newsdadtow/videos/1720625361294714/

“Mr. President, we are in the midst of this war. We are asking your help to please give what your enemies are asking for,” the priest says, noting that his captors want Duterte to withdraw forces “from Lanao del Sur and Marawi City” and to halt air attacks.

“They just ask that you leave this place peacefully. Do not give so much attack,” he continues. ““We want to live another day, we want to live another month, we want to live a few years. And in your generosity, Mr. President, in your heart, we know you can make something.”

(h/t New York Post)

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