Islamic State-linked militants have swept through the streets of Marawi City in the southern Philippines torching buildings and also taking a Catholic priest and his worshippers as hostages when sealing off the city to the outside world.
The city became a no-go zone and President Duterte declared martial law sending army tanks packed with soldiers rolling into the city in an effort to take it back from ISIS while reports have said that at least 21 people have died in the fighting that erupted.
Military chief of staff General Eduardo Ano said that the militants had erected Isis flags at several locations in the city. There are a dozen armed Muslim groups in the southern Philippines that have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and formed an alliance.