Philippine forces found the bodies of what appeared to be eight executed civilians as authorities launched fresh airstrikes Sunday to drive militants linked to the Islamic State group out of a besieged southern city. The death toll from six days of fighting neared 100.

The crisis in Marawi, home to some 200,000 people, has grown increasingly dire as the militants show unexpected tenacity, fending off a military that has unleashed attack helicopters, armored vehicles and scores of soldiers.

The violence prompted President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday to declare 60 days of martial law in the southern Philippines, where a Muslim separatist rebellion has raged for decades. But the recent bloodshed in Marawi has raised fears that extremism is growing as smaller militant groups unify and align themselves with the Islamic State group.

Much of the city is a no-go zone, but as the military advances and more civilians escape, the scope of the battle is becoming clear.

Thousands of civilians have streamed out of Marawi and more than 2,000 were still trapped inside the city. Many sent desperate text messages begging to be rescued and reporting that their homes had been destroyed, said Zia Alonto Adiong, an official in Lanao del Sur, one of the country’s poorest provinces.

“Have mercy on us, we don’t have any more water to drink,” read one of the messages, sent to a hotline set up for trapped residents.

The Associated Press was shown the messages by relief workers at a provincial government complex in Marawi. Another message asked authorities to retrieve three bodies that were rotting near a resident’s home.

Speaking at the evacuation center on Sunday, Saddat Liong said his house was hit by mortar fire and burned to the ground. Liong, his wife and eight children lost everything, he said – even their cooking pots.

“I feel that we’ve lost our city,” he said.

Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said that combat operations were still going on, but that the militants were weakening.

“We believe they’re now low on ammunition and food,” he said, speaking by phone from Manila, the capital. “Compared to the initial days, there has been increasingly less resistance from the militants within Marawi.”

Padilla said the bodies of four men, three women and a child were found near a road close to Mindanao State University in Marawi.

Eight other men were found gunned down and thrown into a shallow ravine early Sunday in Marawi’s Emi village, said police officer Jamail Mangadang. A paper sign attached to one of the men indicated that the victims had “betrayed their faith,” he said, identifying the men as civilians.

Marawi is a mostly Muslim city.

Mangadang said the eight men were bakers and carpenters who were evacuating to Iligan, a city near Marawi, but were intercepted by the militants. When they couldn’t recite verses of the Quran because they were Christians, they were brought to the top of a ravine and shot to death, Mangadang said, citing the chief of a village where the victims lived.

In addition to the civilian deaths, Padilla said 61 militants, 11 soldiers and four police were among the dead.

The violence erupted Tuesday night when the government launched a raid to capture Isnilon Hapilon, who is on Washington’s list of most-wanted terrorists. But the operation went awry and militants rampaged through the city, torching buildings and battling government forces in the streets.

A priest and several worshippers were taken hostage. There was no word on their condition.

Hapilon, an Islamic preacher, is a commander of the Abu Sayyaf militant group who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group in 2014. He also heads an alliance of at least 10 smaller militant groups, including the Maute, which has a heavy presence in Marawi and has been instrumental in fighting off government forces in the current battles.

All of the groups are inspired by the Islamic State group. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told reporters that Hapilon has received funds from the Islamic State group.

Washington has offered a $5 million reward for information leading to Hapilon’s capture.
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China’s planned modern version of its ancient “silk road” may bring more than one trillion dollars of infrastructure investment along trading routes that wind through emerging markets in dozens of countries throughout Asia, Africa and Europe. “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR) trade routes, which stretch from China to London and to Africa, are intended to boost the economies of China and the many nations along the routes by making trading easier and cheaper.

But so far, these road, rail, pipeline, port, power grid, telecom, and other projects offer major opportunities for Chinese companies and not so many for outside firms.

The Chinese will take “most of the highest-profile projects,” said Researcher Derek Scissors of the American Enterprise Institute.

The author of China’s Asian Dream: Empire Building Along The New Silk Road, Tom Miller, said Chinese banks are financing much of the work with the goal of exporting Chinese technology and creating new demand for Chinese products. Miller said nations that use Chinese technology are more likely to buy Chinese products in the future and will work to boost Beijing’s political influence abroad.

Cornell University’s Lourdes Casanova, an expert on emerging markets, said China is using these investments to “gain strategic power.”

Five of the largest engineering and construction companies in the world [measured by revenue] are Chinese, said Casanova, as well as four of the five largest banks [by assets]. The Cornell University researcher and senior lecturer said Chinese companies gained experience building huge infrastructure projects at home that will help them handle major projects elsewhere.

“Chinese engineering firms perform better in difficult environments than any other firms in the world,” said Scissors, adding “they don’t necessarily have to show profits, and have accumulated experience in Pakistan, Nigeria, Ecuador, and elsewhere.”

It may be difficult to operate in some OBOR nations, Cornell’s Casanova said, but they will still attract investment because they need a “huge” amount of infrastructure.

New opportunities

Some foreign companies tell researchers the business climate in China is deteriorating, and they are rethinking investments, which might affect new projects like OBOR. A survey by AMCHAM (the American Chamber of Commerce in China) finds some firms slowing investment in China or moving some operations to other nations. Members complain that “inconsistent” enforcement of regulations puts foreign companies at a disadvantage while slowing economic growth is hampering opportunity.

But major U.S. firms – GE, Honeywell, and Caterpillar – already do a lot of business in China and see opportunities in the new silk road/OBOR projects.

Caterpillar’s revenues have been boosted by improving sales in China, and the firm says it has been “deeply involved” in the new silk road initiative which it sees as a “long-term opportunity.”

Caterpillar officials said the company uses global resources to focus on solving problems for customers in China and 20 other nations along the new silk road. In the 40 years, it has been in China, Caterpillar has evolved from importing machines to China, to sharing technology with local partners, to now operating factories and other facilities within China.

Honeywell employs 13,000 people in China and earned billions of dollars in revenue there in 2016. Company spokesmen say their workforce includes a couple of thousand Chinese scientists and engineers, who are helping establish Honeywell as a local Chinese company that can address the needs of local business and consumers. The company offers a wide range of China-made products that support oil & gas operations, airports, healthcare, and other activities

General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt said in a recent speech that his firm competes successfully in China and elsewhere with “local capability inside a global context.” He says GE has 20,000 employees in China with “multiple factories and research centers.” He said his company partners partnership with Chinese construction companies, and his firm leads in power, healthcare, avation, and petroleum.

Human rights

Human rights experts say another concern grows from the need to move some people out of the way of large infrastructure projects. Human Rights Watch China Director Sophie Richardson told VOA it is unclear what impact these large and ambitious projects will have on human rights, but she said there is reason for concern because some nations along the silk road routes “preside over widespread abuses.”

Richardson said China has “heightened surveillance and repression” to prevent unrest that might impede OBOR plans in that nation’s Xinjiang province. The far-western region of China is a key part of the silk road, and home to 10 million Muslim Uighurs, who differ in culture, language, and faith from China’s majority population. Xinjiang has long been the scene of ethnic and political tensions and is heavily patrolled by Chinese police and military units.

Richardson said private companies have a responsibility to respect human rights, and must take steps to mitigate or avoid risks. She said these obligations are spelled out by United Nations guidelines that have been embraced by key Chinese business organizations, and firms should be judged on how they handle peaceful protests of their activities.
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A Taliban infiltrator has gunned down six government forces in southern Afghanistan, raising the number of army and police personnel killed by insurgents in the past week to nearly 100.

Afghan and insurgent officials said Sunday the overnight “insider attack” incident took place at a security outpost in Zabul province where a police guard turned his gun on colleagues.

He shot dead six police, including the commander of the post. Afghan media quoted local officials as saying the shooter later rejoined the Taliban and handed the post over to insurgent control.

The Taliban in the last week has assaulted several Afghan military bases and installations, particularly in volatile southern provinces, killing and wounding scores of security forces.

On Saturday, the first day of the holy Islamic month of Ramadan, a Taliban suicide car bomber in the eastern city of Khost struck a convoy of an Afghan elite force providing security to American forces. The blast killed at least 18 personnel and wounded many others.

Afghan Defense Ministry officials say government forces have also inflicted heavy battlefield casualties on the Taliban in retaliation.

The Islamist insurgency on Saturday rejected as “ignorance of religion” U.N.-led calls for halting hostilities during Ramadan to respect the religious obligation.

Hours after staging the suicide car bombing in Khost, a Taliban spokesman insisted it is fighting “jihad” (holy war) and is a religious obligation.

“Our fight is Jihad and an obligatory worship. And every obligatory act of worship has 70 times more reward in Ramadan,” a statement quoted spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid as claiming.

Afghan security forces lost more than 150 personnel in a single Taliban attack last month on a military base outside the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif.

The uptick in hostilities has also killed and wounded record numbers of civilians, particularly women and children, since the start of the year.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has convened an international peace conference in Kabul in the first week of June where delegates from Afghanistan’s immediate neighbors, along with other regional countries, will discuss ways to end the increasingly deadly conflict.
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Government forces enforced a strict curfew in parts of Indian-controlled Kashmir on Sunday, a day after the killing of a prominent rebel commander by Indian soldiers sparked massive anti-India protests in the disputed region.

Armed police and paramilitary soldiers patrolled deserted streets and ordered residents indoors in the region’s main city of Srinagar and other towns to stop the demonstrations.

Still, thousands of people assembled in the southern Tral area to take part in the funeral of the rebel leader, Sabzar Ahmed Bhat, chanting slogans calling for Kashmir’s freedom from Indian rule.

There were no reports of any protests on Sunday, which marked the beginning of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

After Bhat and another militant were killed in a gunbattle with soldiers on Saturday, large-scale protests and clashes erupted across the region, leaving one civilian dead and dozens of others injured.

Anti-India sentiment runs deep among Kashmir’s mostly Muslim population, and most people there support the rebels’ cause against Indian rule despite a decades-long military crackdown to fight the armed rebellion.

Separatist leaders who challenge India’s sovereignty over Kashmir called for a general strike on Sunday and Monday.

India and Pakistan administer part of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety.

Rebel groups have been fighting since 1989 for Kashmir’s independence or merger with neighboring Pakistan. Nearly 70,000 people have been killed in the fighting and the ensuing Indian crackdown. India has accused Pakistan of arming and training the rebels, which Pakistan denies.

Rebel groups have largely been suppressed by Indian forces in recent years. However, public opposition to Indian rule remains deep and is now principally expressed through street protests marked by youths hurling stones at government forces.

 
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Bodies of what appeared to be executed civilians were found in a ravine outside a besieged Philippine city Sunday as a six-day occupation by Islamist rebels resisting a military onslaught took a more sinister turn.

The eight dead men, most of them shot in the head and some with hands tied behind their backs, were laborers who were stopped by Islamic State-linked militants on the outskirts of Marawi City while trying to flee clashes, according to police.

Nine spent bullet casings were found on a blood-stained patch of road at the top of the ravine. Attached to one of the bodies was a sign that said “Munafik” (traitor).

Rebels suspected 

The discovery confirms days of speculation that Maute rebels had killed civilians during a bloody takeover of Marawi City, that the military believes is aimed at winning the Maute recognition from the Islamic State group in the Middle East as a Southeast Asian affiliate.

The army deployed additional ground troops over the weekend and dispatched helicopters to carry out rocket strikes on Maute positions as fighters held buildings and a bridge deep inside a predominantly Muslim city where few civilians remained.

At least 41 militants were killed and 13 military as of Saturday, according to the army. The number of civilian dead was unknown.

Determined to stay

The fierce resistance of the Maute gunmen and the apparent executions of civilians will add to growing fears that subscribers to Islamic State’s radical ideology are determined to establish a presence in the southern Philippines, with the support of extremists from Indonesia and Malaysia.

Marawi police officer Jamail C Mangadang told Reuters the eight men found dead were carpenters who were part of an evacuation convoy stopped by rebels late Saturday.

Recalling information provided by their manager, Mangadang said the victims were pulled off a truck because they were unable to cite verses of the Koran, the Islamic Holy text.

Days-long battle

Fierce battles restarted Sunday as ground troops engaged Maute fighters with heavy gunfire. Plumes of smoke were seen on the horizon and helicopters fired at least eight rockets on rebel positions.

A surveillance drone circled the sky above Marawi City. Some civilians left on foot, others were seen tying white cloths to poles to distinguish themselves from militants as soldiers huddled behind armored vehicles slowly advanced.

An ambulance was seen speeding away from the fighting, and soldiers said a captured militant was inside.

Tens of thousands of people have fled Marawi since Tuesday, when militants went on the rampage seizing a school, a hospital, and a cathedral.

Christians were taken hostage, according to church leaders, and more than 100 inmates, among them militants, were freed when rebels took over two jails.

Zia Alonto Adiong, a local politician who is coordinating efforts to get people out of the city, said there were bodies of civilians in Marawi. He criticized the military for conducting air strikes and for hampering efforts to evacuate civilians.

“Some have no food at all. Some fear for their lives,” he said. “This is a conflict that has gone beyond proportion. The magnitude of the degree of the damage and the people that are affected … it’s really massive.”

Abu Sayyaf leader escapes

The violence erupted in the moments after a failed attempt by security forces to capture Isnilon Hapilon, a leader of a radical faction of another extremist group, who the government believes is Islamic State’s point-man in the Philippines.

The military is certain the Maute are protecting Hapilon and had narrowed down his location. Hapilon leads a radical faction of another Mindanao-based group, the Abu Sayyaf.

The little-known Maute group has staged similar, days-long sieges on Mindanao island but none on the scale of Marawi, where witnesses said flags resembling those of Islamic State had been flown and some men were wearing black headbands.

Another concern for the government was the discovery of foreign fighters with the Maute, among them Indonesians and Malaysians, suggesting what was once a domestic problem could mushroom into a larger regional security threat.
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Sri Lankan rescuers are taking advantage of improving weather and receding floodwaters to reach thousands of people in need of basic supplies after floods and mudslides left at least 126 dead. 

Officials say hope is fading for finding survivors among 97 people missing in two days of torrential rains and landslides that swamped western and southern regions. More than 100,000 are displaced. 

The U.N says that it is assisting in relief efforts in response to a government appeal. 

Although the weather has cleared, more rains are forecast for Sunday and Monday. 

Mudslides have become common in Sri Lanka during monsoon rains due to heavy deforestation that leaves soil unable to hold water. 

 
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Authorities in Bangladesh reinstalled a Lady Justice statue near the country’s Supreme Court, two days after its removal following complaints by Islamist hard-liners.

Sculptor Mrinal Haque said Sunday workers put the statue back in place a few hundred meters (yards) from its original location. 

Haque, who took care of the reinstallation work overnight, said he was shocked at the statue’s removal Thursday night. He said it would be less visible in its new place. 

Security was tight, and officials did not allow anybody inside the court area when the statue was re-erected. A dozen people nearby chanted anti-government slogans and demanded the work be stopped. 

Islamists vow new protests

The removal was to appease hard-liners who said the statue was erected last year in front of a ground used for prayers during two Islamic festivals. But it also sparked criticism and protests among liberals, cultural groups and left-wing activists.

Many have accused Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of siding with the Islamists who are traditionally close to her rival Khaleda Zia, the opposition leader and a former prime minister. Hefazat-e-Islam, a platform of the Islamists, had welcomed the removal and vowed to wage new protests to press for removal of other sculptures on university campuses and intersections across the country. 

The statue of a woman holding a scale and sword in her hands was installed in December. The statue is wrapped in a sari, a Bangladeshi revision of the usual representation, the Greek goddess Themis blindfolded and clad in a gown. Islamists oppose idol worship and consider the Lady Justice statue anti-Islamic.

A blow to hard-liners

The reinstallation of the statue can be seen as a blow to the hard-liners who are trying to get some political mileage ahead of next general elections expected to be held in December next year. 

Hefazat-e-Islam supporters have protested in front of the main mosque in Dhaka several times after the statue was erected. The group, which has a network of students from thousands of Islamic schools across the country, had threatened to launch a mass movement if the government failed to remove the statue.

In 2008, protests led to the removal of a statue of a Bangladeshi mystic poet at a road crossing near Dhaka’s airport.

The country of 160 million people is ruled by secular laws, but radical Islam has been rising.

In recent years dozens of atheists, liberal writers, bloggers and publishers and members of minority communities and foreigners have been targeted and killed. 
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Saffron has long been one of the world’s most expensive spices. The saffron crocus that produces the spice grows mostly in parts of Europe, Iran and India. Now, a U.S. company seeking to “cultivate peace” is attracting attention to this historic spice and trying to develop new markets for saffron grown in Afghanistan. VOA’s Kane Farabaugh has more from Chicago.
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