Authorities have placed him in protective custody and say he has helped identify militants fighting in Marawi. "The recruitment is now happening very, very rapidly," said Banlaoi, who monitors mobilisation in Mindanao via informants and police interrogation reports of militants. Reuters spoke to two teenagers from that camp, who said they were lured by promises of money, marriage and paradise after death. The government says poor and uneducated males like Abdul and Faisal are easy prey in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which comprises five of Mindanao's 27 provinces. A former military intelligence officer who has tracked the Maute clan said the military under-estimated them as a "ragtag group".

Source: bd News24 September 21, 2017 04:30 UTC