On 23 September, the Islamic State (IS) Al-Hayat media wing released a three-minute propaganda video featuring radicalised Singaporean, Megat Shahdan Abdul Samad. In the video, he urged Muslims to wage religious war – or jihad – in East Asia and bring upon “black days” on “crusaders” here.

Cradling her baby in a muddy tent camp, Jamalia Pindaton has no idea if she can return home to Marawi in the southern Philippines after the end of a five-month war launched by Islamic State supporters.More than 350,000 people from in and around Marawi, the mainly Catholic Philippines' Islamic capital, were displaced because of the conflict, which ended on Monday when soldiers killed the remaining gunmen inside a mosque.But, with the eastern half of Marawi almost totally destroyed and wor

Russia handed over army trucks and thousands of assault rifles to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday as the two nations celebrated their growing military ties.Duterte accepted the weaponry during a visit to a Russian naval ship docked in Manila, the latest move to embrace Russia and China while distancing the Philippines from its longtime ally and mutual defence partner, the United States.Following a tour of the mammoth anti-submarine warship Admiral Panteleyev, Duterte persona

Australia will train Filipino soldiers in urban warfare to combat the spread of the Islamic extremism after months of fierce fighting against militants in the country's south, it was announced Tuesday.Canberra has been aiding Manila against local supporters of the Islamic State group in the southern city of Marawi since September, deploying two AP-3C Orion aircraft for surveillance while helping in information-gathering and analysis.Defence chiefs in the Philippines on Monday declared vi

A five-month battle against Islamic State supporters in the southern Philippines that claimed more than 1,100 lives has ended following a final battle inside a mosque, defence chiefs said on Monday.The conclusion of the conflict ended immediate fears that IS would establish a Southeast Asian base in the southern city of Marawi.

At first glance, the endless rows of devastated buildings could be the aftermath of a great earthquake.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday declared a southern city "liberated from terrorists' influence" but the military said the five-month battle against militants loyal to the Islamic State group was not yet over.Duterte led rain-soaked soldiers in celebrations in Marawi, a day after the military announced the death of the head of the Islamic State group in Southeast Asia, Isnilon Hapilon, in a gunbattle in the city."Ladies and gentlemen, I hereby declare Marawi

The head of the Islamic State group in Southeast Asia, who figures on the US "most wanted terrorists" list, has been killed in the battle to reclaim a militant-held Philippines city, the country's defence minister said Monday.

Philippine troops Sunday bombed militants loyal to the Islamic State group who have held out for over four months in a southern city and the military said the conflict would be over "very soon".The army previously set a target of Sunday to end the fighting in Marawi, which it said has killed more than 1,000 people.

The Philippine government plans to target additional companies in its crackdown on tax evasion, said Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez.“We are on a roll, and this is part of the president’s programme to make our country more law abiding," Dominguez told Bloomberg Television’s Kathleen Hays in an interview in Washington on Friday. “Tax evasion is a really serious violation and we are going after” evaders.Dominguez said he expects a tax reform bill to receive lawmaker approval.