The Siege

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For five months in the year 2017, Islamist militants took over The City of Marawi in the southern Philippines. One of their prisoners, a Catholic priest, father Chito, who was forced to resign as bombs under the threat of torture. The Experience shook him deeply, but he continues to hope that Christians and Muslims will be able, in peace.

It was dinner-time at the Bato mosque, and 20 people were gathered to eat around the long table in The Basement , ready. On one side of the table, 15 jihadists. On The Other , father Chito, a Catholic priest, and a handful of other Christians.

Suddenly, the sound of the shots startled them and they sprang into action. Father Chito reaches for the AK47 on his feet and threw him across the table to one of the jihadists who caught it, and crouched at the entrance of the mosque, done.

After a few minutes of the shots went into the distance, and they settled back around the table.

It was a familiar routine. Father Chito had been Held Hostage for More Than Two months. He could not say he liked his captors, but he had developed what he describes as a "human" with them. They were a small community, eating, working together. And when he heard that one of the jihadists had died in the battle of the Philippine Army , he mourn'd.

father, Chito taken hostage by militants affiliated to Islamic state was besieged on the 23rd of may 2017, The Day The City of Marawi,.

Before this, Marawi is a beautiful city, with tall, tightly Packed houses and ornate mosques was. Is located on the Philippine southern island of Mindanao, it is a majority Muslim town in a predominantly Catholic country.

Islam first arrived in the southern Philippines in the 13Th Century . Century, via traders from the Middle East and the Malay and Indonesian archipelagos. Missionaries and mosques followed, and those who converted are known as the Moro People . When the Spanish colonization of the Philippines in the 16Th Century . Century, with Catholicism, they could not find the Moro in The South of the country to conquer.

Since then, many Muslims have felt in The South , pushed to the edge. The region is among the poorest in the country and there were calls for the autonomy of what is widely considered the Catholic power base of Manila.

Find out more lists in The history of the Philippines " the Lost City on crossing continents on BBC Radio 4 at 11:00 am 5. September

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If the father, Chito was sent to Marawi 23 years ago, with the aim of building an inter-religious dialogue between Christians and Muslims, the vast majority of the people of The Town welcomed him and his colleagues. But in the months before The Siege , he felt increasingly uncomfortable.

at the beginning of 2016, Two Brothers from the Maute tribe returned back from studying in the Middle East in their home city, Butig, South of Marawi. You started to preach a militant version of Islam and gathered a group of around 200 supporters, who began to attack the government troops in the area.

In the year 2017, the attacks are getting closer and closer to Marawi. Fighters from Indonesia and Malaysia already had ranks swelled, The Fighters ', if, at the end of may, IS a further-allied group, Abu Sayyaf , or "bearer of The Sword ", has been sighted in The City .

The stage was set for The Siege of Marawi.

Two years later, 100,000 people remain displaced as a result of Marawi, siege In The Middle of The Day , father Chito was awakened from a nap by the sound of the shots. To beep And Then his tablet, computer and phone started, as he was bombarded with messages of Muslim and Catholic friends, all say the same thing: "Get Out of Marawi!"

Instead, he prayed. "I said to myself, 'I trust everything in God 's hands, so I don't Get Out ," he says.

5. 30, The City of The Streets was quiet, empty, the Windows were closed and the lights turned off. The militants raised the Black Flag of the Islamic state on The Hospital . On the horizon, The Police burned the station.

And Then the jihadists came at the gate of The Cathedral . As a father, Chito approached the gate, Two men raised their rifles. Behind them, he saw about a 100 armed fighters.

Along with five of his colleagues, he was forced into the back of a van and held in All Night , as the militants preached their version of Islam.

"throughout the evening, they indoctrinate us: 'We are here because we clean Marawi want to. This is called a Islamic city, but there are drugs here, the corruption is here, there is wine and music here. We are here to establish The Caliphate . '"

Bato mosque, where the father Chito was held, But there were thousands of civilians trapped in The City who do not want to be ruled by allies of the Islamic state. In The First days of The Siege , it was a mess. People were stranded in their homes, desperate to escape, but the fear of being caught in the cross fire.

Tong Pacasum was the work in The City hall at the time, his job was to respond, floods, and Natural Disasters . So, when The Conflict began, his cell phone began to ring.

"As we said, The First to call for The Rescue operation, I was thinking twice about going out of the gate, because I don't know, if I go, I'm not sure if I will be there again," he said. "But then you get overwhelmed with The Situation , so you are left with No Other choice but to go, even if it means risking your life. "

Tong together a team of volunteers from Marawi brought the Muslim community and together they went to breakneck rescue actions in the zone of conflict. Their vehicles were fired on, as they wound their way through mountains of rubble and burning buildings. Tong decided that they needed a way to out yourself as a neutral. He remembered a stack of white construction helmets in his office, and he cut a white tablecloth, the arm bands. The Team was soon branded the "Suicide Squad " by The Local Media .

Tong Pacasum But, father Chito and 100 other hostages, were far beyond the reach of the Suicide Squad . They were held in The Basement of the Bato mosque, the militants " command center.

they were told they would not be measures in the face "disciplinary" if you cooperate. Father Chita knew that this meant torture, and feared that it would lead to him lose his mind. He worked for the militants, cooking and cleaning, and also - with a Heavy Heart - the manufacture of bombs.

Urban-guerrilla-create tactics - including punching holes through walls, the "back roads" between the buildings - helped to deprive the militants, capture. But with the help of US-American and Australian intelligence to the Philippine Army 's relentless air attacks.

The pattern of air attacks familiar to father Chito. There were always Two levels, each with four bombs, each explosion closer than The Last .

He underwent More Than 100 air strikes in his four months in captivity, both want and do not want to be beaten. "I prayed and asked God for the next bomb to Hit Me ," he says. But then he would quickly change his mind. "No, sir, not to beat me. I don't want to be beaten. "

"There are moments in which I did not know How To pray," he says. "I complained to the Lord, When I have sinned, and you're punishing me, that's not too much, this is appropriate. "My faith in God was really challenged to The Point that the fault of God . "

On the 16. September, the Philippine Army was heard in the vicinity of the mosque, father Chito was able to, as your commands. As soon as it was dark, he and The Other hostages decided that this is your chance: she snuck to the back of the mosque and delivery. Two streets further, they were guns by a group of men, swinging and abduct to the safety.

A month later, the Philippine defense Minister of the country said to be the longest siege. The Maute brothers, Omar and Abdullah, and Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon had been killed, and the rest of The Fighters passed.

About 1,000 people lost their lives in the five-month siege.

Almost Two years on, The City in ruins. The reconstruction has been painfully displaced slowly, with 100,000 people still living in camps or with relatives.

A Square Mile of streets in the centre of The City is now known as Ground Zero , or The Most Affected area. The extent of the devastation is similar to Raqqa, Aleppo or Mosul. Every single building was damaged; a lot of leaning on clumsy-looking angle, or completely in rubble and ashes. We travel in the area, with father Chito, in the direction of The Cathedral , of the he was taken.

As we pull up he excitedly points out The Window . "This is our Church!", he screams. But as we entered, The Mood changes. The Cathedral was reduced to a ruin. Bullet holes cover the walls, the tiles on The Floor crack under their feet, and the roof was scattered, with only the metal structure, the creeks eerily in The Wind . The Church should be demolished, and so this may be The Last time he sees.

He is still in therapy

islamic state group, long reads, philippines, radical islam

Source of news: bbc.com