still forget you can keep up to date on our website dude if you need a studio you know comfort me i'm a spice or thanks for watching. we're all set. to go beyond. the. call of the house the stories that matter to the. country but. whatever it takes. no running down cut a little nut job you made for mines.

you mean. to say. it was good don't know why mother always burned the place i said good. good. if i have a minute of my job i won't join the ice and. this was squashed by an ideology that's foreign to us. history museum coming into the country from

other countries. i'd say has diminished but he never did anything to change. the supervision of all this is just eat i don't cement over liberation. the name is clear in the blink of an eye my children have gone i will never see them again and that something terrible to say. what the president did in there always a good lesson. this is only the beginning. the more.

move. move move move move move move move move move move move move move. move. we're on mindanao the 2nd biggest island of the philippines. it's in the south of the country a little smaller than south korea and famous for its natural beauty. this

is also the site of one of the longest running conflicts in asia it's mainly a conflict between the christian majority and the muslim minority more than 100000 have been killed over the past decades. may 2017 saw a catastrophic development the self-proclaimed islamic state also known as i got involved in the conflict. with just a few 100 fighters it seems the mainly muslim town of mirali and held it for 5 months. the consequences were devastating. for. all the philippine president rodrigo territory known for his brutal 0 tolerance approach proceeded to bomb the city. and. we want to find out how it was possible. for i.d.'s to gain

a foothold in the philippines. and. the mood we meet someone who witnessed the battle for murali the people they thought it's a joke how can you attack a city. and they cost tens of thousands of people. it's unthinkable but it happened and there this is how terrorism place it's black because it can explode it would break out at any time or for. not holding look mom is a historian and a member of a powerful muslim family nonetheless he has to ask the army for permission to accompany us into the center of mirali it's now an exclusion zone the city has a population of 200000 of them and.

the for her. is not allowed to enter his house. not all the booby traps and explosive devices in the area have been cleared away. tell us where we may go and how long we may. people here call the exclusion zone ground 0. thousands have lost their homes. to the central mosque. he used to come straight here and pray for the dead.

artillery mortar our helicopter gunships jet fighters. ever thought it was to disperse. i was watching it the whole time with my 2 oldest open truck and here. there was a time on the 2nd day i think my brother went to the. us going to stop the bombings but the army rejected because they say. they can't handle the situation. definitely they were not able to model the situation. i asked fighters had taken downtown the wrong way on may 23rd 2017 government forces responded swiftly and harshly.

in this type of warfare you have to flush out the enemy from veer defensive position. if you look at the experience of. aleppo. all of this experienced bombings but in the case of. the when we did the bombings it was been pointed to specific targets only. the battle lasted 5 months more than a 1000 people were killed for the armed forces it was the toughest battle since the 2nd world war i as terrorists took hostages and murdered christians.

desperate terrified people sought shelter on no deano man's property both muslims and christians. i was not afraid i just want to make sure that everybody is safe i don't care about death i was waiting to die. i don't know i did not fear death because. you know i was schooled you know really just so. the situation. we never think about the. as an enemy. if it's god's will that you die you die if it's god's will that you really believe even if you are. right in the middle of mosul or. or in damascus where. after 12 days of siege food and water were running out in morocco we.

look man whose nickname is norway decided to flee with those he had been sheltering . in front of a white building. a boy was blocking my path. i was right in that basket ball ring and then when i got near. he recognized me and said no way. and i said what are you doing here i don't use a local boy. what are you doing here. and if he's even so proud of it and then after that he said this is no way let's let them pass the time passed so. when i passed by a bear i saw some snipers there in that building 40 bullets in their guns. looking at me as if. but this they stopped firing and i felt so happy i mean you cannot explain experienced that in any other situation but. i i felt that elation

i think it's almost divine. i'm still alive and people are alive nobody got hurt that's ok thank god. look man became the hero of harare he led more than $150.00 civilians to safety. in the parts of the city that were not destroyed life looks like it is back to normal though martial law is still in force throughout mindanao. here stopped repeatedly at military checkpoints.

wanted posters for suspected terrorists are everywhere. who are they and what do they want. as we meet abdul he was recruited at the age of 17 he didn't have a job i asked offered him money and a gun he says he trained in the jungle alongside local and foreign fighters. tess i mean less obvious but i love what i and the country taught us what the qur'an says. is an eye for an eye. and we have to right to take revenge but then you're going to claims that as i've been out of. the i.a.s. commanders launched the attack earlier than planned abdul wasn't in morocco at the time. you know when i'm in a kitchen with. when we heard that they had started fighting those of us

outside. and we discussed how to get to the center. i mean. not that i mean we tried 7 times we even used motor boats to try to get in from the lake but it didn't work. but. i do past information about the movement of government troops to his eye as comrades inside the besieged city by cell phone he tells us that 40 of his friends were killed none the less he could imagine joining battle again. so. we have an advantage because we young people just blend in with the population. the military can't easily identify which of us are fighters who know

how to use a gun. fight there or i'm only coming on. to say. i wouldn't fight in iraq. or any other muslim area the same thing would happen again. only muslim people with. the battle took place somewhere else i would join so much. is out of a job again and he's disappointed about losing the battle and about the empty promises i said made. the leaders of the i.a.s. fighters in morale we were 2 brothers omar and abdullah martin members of a powerful clan they are revered as heroes by their young followers. but most

muslims on mentor now have no sympathy for the ideology of the so-called islamic state other can share reef is a leading figure in the local muslim community he knew them out of brothers because of his long beard he has been dubbed bin laden as in osama bin laden. sharif likes the nickname even though he says he is opposed to violence and said that to the local i asked fighters. visiting me in my house and yet convincing me to join them sometimes they told me please join us we will make you us our army. yes and he will make us our leader actually when you have talking with me to say but they have been letting you join us because

we cannot trust in them or people have been governments because they are always betraying us yes so that's why i did become. bad because. sharif did not join the group led by the mountain brothers he told them he could not fight because he had heart disease. islamic state called on its sympathizers around the world to support them not to brothers in the battle on mindanao. they may. stay that's why i told him it is impossible because. you. win this water but the highlight of the pilot been go but i mean will not allow it to be if you see what's happening in iraq. doing. their thing so what's happening now. that you know you will loose. sharif run several

religious schools in morocco way he says the kind of islam they teach is peaceful and has nothing in common with i.r.s. ideology. he tells us that muslims here are concerned to maintain their own culture independence is not a priority. in fact he says many muslims in iraq we had actually voted for do territory. and yet it was the president himself he continues who provoked the attack on the city. what our president did this didn't buy it did. ok you can count the money and war. actually in may on opinion this is the day. but the goldberg the go but i'm an or

self-supporting because did not allow us to negotiate with the devil. we accompany shareef to midday prayers in the mosque. if. it's safe. it's just. muslims make up just 5 percent of the philippine population the majority are catholics almost all the muslims live on and you know all. sharif says that many here feel marginalized and abused by the philippine government a feeling only confirmed by the bombing of. as

a result of the conflict and the destruction tens of thousands fled the city. we visit one of the many camps set up for the displaced. is a widow and used to run a small shop downtown she has 8 children since the battle erupted she hasn't seen 4 of them. and you know what i will not let my strength comes from. only. he keeps me alone. before i could hear my children's voices but not anymore. before in the middle of the night at 1 in the morning i could hear them crying for help but now i can't

hear them anymore my children are too far away already i can no longer hear their voices. for who have gone missing 3 girls and a boy were all in qur'an school when the fighting began. fatima and the 4 children still with her are tormented by thoughts of what might have happened to the others were they seized by the i s fighters are they long dead . or missing. someone trying to hide my suffering from other children. there are times when i pray to god to ask him to take my knowing. that when i see my children. i still so

young. i will go about that in every little my request and instead ask him to give me more years to live the gunmen the young. ones. who think you can fool. people who. most of the children in the displaced persons camps don't go to school most of the families are poor. memory an important person has come to visit some miracle talk she's running for the senate and if she wins she will be the 1st muslim senator in a quarter of a century she's critical of the way to turn take conducted the campaign to retake

or just. does not liberation of all this is just. kind of announcement of our liberation but the real liberation is not living in this kind of the liaison this is not the way we were this is not the kind of life we want this is not the kind of freedom that we want for children missing amongst 1000 people missing is not an achievement it is a moral disaster it's in fun it is infamy for us. that can never be repaired. nobody knows how many civilians were killed during the siege. samir a good talk takes a. to a mass grave outside of town it's not known who is buried here. none of the victims were ever identified.

is an example of discrimination of not allowing traditional indigenous mediation systems if we keep on making peacekeeping as a decision of only men in uniform and a national with local civilian population on it will always be a lock and failed experiment it's a failed decision my ra is a failed decision on it cannot be any more used as a template for any other. the following day we have an appointment with the largest muslim rebel group on mindanao the moral islamic liberation front for m i l f we are told to follow the black pickup in front into territory controlled by the group.

for decades the rebels fought for independence from the central government in manila many thousands were killed in the fighting. and wait wait wait wait. what sense i asked burst on to the same the former archenemies the front and the government have become strategic allies. now. we need a rebel leader who played a key role in dialogue with the government under successive presidents. god's only jaafari tells us of his determination to establish an a thomas homeland for his people found some moral. negotiations lead to a deal codified in the bungs

a more organic law the basis for the new bangs and moro autonomous region in muslim mindanao we can see only current government budget and islamic legal system. what is the reason why it is not always see how it is because of this injustice this young people are they are fed up that's why i am then here come the group which is more militant. parts there. of course are in awe. of the isis. and they isis. trying to find out who can be. there to be our ally outside of the middle east. and. they believe. men are oppressed. can't meet their eye because. the

muslims are not satisfied. but example are there so much corruption. and overall. and i miss my administration. we're allowed to visit the headquarters of the military wing of the liberation front. for us he's. the chief of staff isn't in uniform a sign perhaps of the shift from armed struggle to political action and

responsibility. or we ask what might happen if the project of autonomy doesn't go well. there may be there. are people who are. us but our committee really did a lot of people really become diminished. the isis with. the station. all the. tools. in their little time. and become bigger. liberation front has a lot of support among the muslim world for many believe their ancestors were victims of a historical injustice committed by christians the spanish an american colonists and the philippine government in manila. the prospect of autonomy and peace has

given the people here new hope. the m. f. says it will disarm up to $30000.00 fighters once autonomy for the muslim majority region is implemented. if not then they start the square to the men we will not. do commission our forces and we will not give up our firearms which we promised to the government. the rebels take us on patrol. out in the marshes here there are still fighters loyal to i.a.s. lying low. and. we have the impression the m.i.l.f. men want to show that they are still in charge as if to say without us there can be

no peace on mindanao. the movement's leaders. evidently think highly of president hu territory for advancing peace but also because he too is from mindanao and has muslims in his family. he's telling us he's even forcing the peace process that's why i really thought i was arrested and did because obi hisper always made his auction. a could be that the words have been displaced that's why really but i suppose it that. we ask ourselves who does the land really belong to to the muslims whose ancestors settled on mindanao in the 13th century or to the christians who came much later but now account for the majority of the island's population.

we visit the village of mother 100 families live here they're all catholic. us. it's. the only duster kaba looks after the small chapel the villages within the new bums and moro autonomous region. sibylla simply. not. my worry is that we just don't know. if we go to the town hall for example we don't know what will happen to us when the muslims are

in poland and what they can do to us. even on the money. i mean what's our. so the only one in the book i know that's why i'm scared when our date is in town and not christians. more. madge look like did that mean i'm a good i don't let that was what i mean of course i'm afraid that my robbery will happen again i saw what happened in the city was destroyed and our livelihood would also be destroyed if this were to happen somewhere here in our area daily income because all i want to in. god we don't even live here. we don't want to be evacuated we don't want to life without direction and they don't want the muzzle in

the mine but with the man. woman who initially was home who were taking care of. the villagers are descendants of christian settlers from the north most of whom came here while the philippines was under u.s. control which only ended in 1906. many here don't trust muslims have seen evidence that when muslims come to our village there's no problem but when we go to where they are they want to cut off our heads i mean. down the road you know melissa long as that's why we don't want them to rule in our community. but the attitude of muslims is very different from our christian attitude. on money it's terrifying. what will happen to our children when we have to live under muslim rule. muslims and christians are different but the model was a christian simply had. once the muslims rule they will make us their slaves and

steal our harvest. i'm going to welcome. i know out. after church on sunday in a nearby village it's time for some cock fighting. it's a bloody spectacle and a favorite pastime for many in the philippines mainly among christians.

muslim religious leaders and the moral islamic liberation front disapprove not of the cruelty but because it involves gambling.

we reached the big. just city in mindanao. president ditto today was mayor here for more than 20 years. this is where he began his notorious war on drugs seemingly deploying the police as extrajudicial hitman. estimates of the number of people killed ranged between 502-0000. the next morning we meet an old friend and confidant of the president today so he

invited us to see his fish farm. so this is where i'm going my money beyond what they are you go over there and more here they can predict if you'll permit. that. oh he's a busy politician so he soon heads back to the city. we arranged to meet him again later. is a mainly catholic city and it's striking how prosperous it appears to be compared to

muslim communities on mindanao it is also considered the safest and cleanest city in the country. many say that's thanks to rob regal territories tenure as mer. case used to race and agrees we meet him again at his waterfront resort he says to tell is a man of action not words watch out for only what the doc's the option that it takes that is how you measuring him don't measure him by what comes out from the small he's doing to be unprecedented when he was mayor here for more than 20 years in the city that was his way of doing things and he had to do it hands on you know i he's my friend. during night time during times when there are high incidence of holdups taxi drivers he would drive a taxi himself how about guns ready and drive and go to places where holdouts are

usually happening he once also will be held up because he can personally counter them in his own way. drugs corruption violent extremists if you handle them with kids gloves and all that maybe you will just prolong the agony. for you but i want to research does p.r. for do terror taban ever he can. for many years he was presidential peace advisor he explains the peace plan from mindanao to a group of visitors many of whom are fans of the president. was easily. the racist says it's a very western point of view to accuse to territory of abusing human rights and

argues that paternity is so popular because he both pursues reconciliation and embody is toughness as he demonstrated with respect to murali. it is a strong signal to the bad guys. around with this country i have been in the peace process under several presidents and we have not moved it as far as we have this time the president feels that we can improve as a nation if we try to give more authority and power for the locals. as. we head back to murali to meet nordin look ma again. he shows us the small museum that is family sponsored.

eat. in. the central exhibit is a painting depicting a battle between muslims and spanish colonizers who arrived in the 16th century and were the 1st christians to settle on mindanao. what happened in mari city is a continuation of the colonial war against our people. and that is for us happening now. and until now the circle animosity has that been resolved. and hopefully. we can resolve this peacefully without going through a war. like that i said. look

man says he's going to run for deputy governor political developments over the coming months will prove decisive. for. the. little little. he views the prospect of autonomy for muslims in the region as an opportunity to overcome old enmities but as a historian he's all too aware of a long history of conflict for many centuries for many to cage for many generations . most of the problems that are being solved in mindanao has to go to war. every don't want war in a war but if it comes then so be it. back . at the end of our trip we take part in

a ceremony to mark the start of reconstruction in the wrong way well over a year after the brutal battle. that it was definitely not a loving home to. the event had been postponed several times so that president deter take credit tend. but in the end he doesn't show up. we leave mindanao with the feeling that regional autonomy will not amount to much unless the muslim minority see real improvements in their everyday lives enduring poverty and discrimination would only keep the threat of islamist terror alive and render peace an empty promise her. first.

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cut. it by. the by. this is new news live from berlin protesters return to the streets of hong kong. just say china's proposed new security law will bring an end to the territory autonomy. for the details also coming up. lot of. muslims around the world they're fast for the time that overshadowed by the specter of kobe. and in week 2 of the business leaders returning from a force break.