Philippines/South East Asia: Marawi is not over yet

While the Philippine government has taken back control of Marawi, this is not the end of the story for both foreign and indigenous militant Islamic groups in South East Asia, says the Singaporean think-tank, RSIS, reporting on 2 January 2018. Thomas Muller, persecution analyst for World Watch Research, comments: "This RSIS report is an important reminder, especially of the Islamic concept of hijrah, the action of fighters fleeing to another country. Militant groups are known to go into hiding, consolidate resources, re-group and re-strategize, thus increasing their potential to launch attacks across borders. It is far from certain if the counter-measures already taken in South East Asia (e.g. increased state cooperation for gathering and sharing intelligence and enhanced training of national security forces) will be sufficient to cope with the threat of further attacks." Thomas Muller continues: "An article by Reuters published on 23 January 2018 highlights a further aspect: The radical Islamic fighters who took control of Marawi in May 2017 also looted up to 40 million US Dollars in cash, gold and jewelry - enough to recruit many new young fighters and to train and equip them for more attacks. Christians (and moderate Muslims) both in Mindanao and beyond can thus expect plenty more violence in the future."