With the battle to retake Mosul from ISIL almost won in Iraq and the group severely limited in its Syrian stronghold Raqqa, the Middle East could soon be free of the militant group.
But ISIL may be looking for a new battleground. In Southeast Asia, there’s now evidence of what is, at the very least, ISIL influence. The most obvious is the ongoing conflict in Marawi City in the Southern Philippines.
CGTN’s Barnaby Lo reports.
Follow Barnaby Lo on Twitter @barnabychuck
To discuss the threat of ISIL in the Philippines, Russia and beyond:
- Richard Heydarian, a geopolitical analyst and professor at De La Salle University.
- Dmitry Babich, a political analyst at Sputnik International.
- Abdel Bari Atwan, editor-in-chief of Rai al-Youm, Arabic Independent newspaper.
- Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, senior fellow with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
For more:
China donates 300,000 USD to rehabilitate besieged Marawi City in S. Philippines https://t.co/z2ffzBCdtd (File pic) pic.twitter.com/lJ1KUcAkq5
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) June 28, 2017
Even if Russia did kill ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, it does not mean the Islamic State has been defeated. https://t.co/dmMGe6IG4U
— Foreign Policy (@ForeignPolicy) June 30, 2017