MANILA: Islamist militants rampaging through a southern Philippine city beheaded a local police chief, President Rodrigo Duterte said on Wednesday. He said the attack occurred near the southern city of Marawi, which is under siege by Islamic militants, as justification for imposing martial law across the southern third of the country. It was unclear if the ambush on the local police chief was included in the official tally. Duterte said continuing sporadic skirmishes showed the group’s “capability to sow terror and unleash harassment and inflict destruction” across the country’s south. The president flew home Wednesday from Moscow, where he had cut short an official visit to Russia to deal with the Marawi crisis.

Source: Manila Times May 24, 2017 10:41 UTC