Inside this lakeside city dotted with hundreds of mosques, a powerful militant designated by the Islamic State group as its leader in the Philippines has managed to unify a disparate group of gunmen under a single command. Over the past week, his fighters have shown their muscle, withstanding a sustained assault by the Philippine military and increasing fears that the Islamic State group's violent ideology is gaining a foothold in this country's restive southern islands, where a Muslim separatist rebellion has raged for decades. In recent years, small militant groups have emerged in the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia and have begun unifying under the banner of the Islamic State group. The fighters' support network in Marawi remains unclear, though the power of one militant group — the Mautes — has grown in recent years. Hapilon is an Islamic preacher and former commander of the Abu Sayyaf militant group who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group in 2014.

Source: ABC News May 29, 2017 04:18 UTC