Jeoffrey Maitem, Mark Navales and Richel V. Umel

Weary Philippine troops on Thursday pushed their way closer to enemy-held territory amid the ruins of Marawi, as the military appeared to have seized strategic positions almost four months after Islamic State-linked militants took over this southern city.

Troops allowed BenarNews reporters to join them inside Marawi’s main battle area, giving them permission to observe U.S.-trained Filipino commandos while they moved around the districts of Mapandi and Lilod, two areas controlled by the gunmen from May 23 until recently.

Kamran Reza Chowdhury and Jesmin Papri

Dhaka and Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh

One million Rohingya refugees – or the entire Muslim population of Myanmar’s Rakhine state – could flee from there to Bangladesh by year’s end, senior U.N. officials warned Thursday as they called on the international community to do more and be prepared in responding to a fluid humanitarian crisis.

By Rina Chadijah, Jakarta

Two weeks before he fled the capital of the so-called Islamic State, Heru Kurnia lived the most traumatic moment of a bitterly disappointing two-year stay in Raqqa.

He saw kids kicking a human head in the street as if it were a football.

The testimony is part of a video released by the Indonesian government this week in which eight of 18 Indonesians who escaped the Islamic State (IS) in June recount their experiences.

Razlan Rashid and Pimuk Rakkanam
Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok

Thailand and a panel representing rebel groups from the Deep South held technical talks Tuesday in Kuala Lumpur focusing on efforts to bring about a limited ceasefire, but officials from both sides did not say whether they made much progress.

In February, a Thai government delegation and rebel organizations represented through the umbrella panel MARA Pattani agreed to a framework for setting up a ceasefire – officially known as a “safety zone” – in one district in Thailand’s troubled southern border region.

Mark Navales and Jeoffrey Maitem Marawi, Philippines

Philippine troops killed at least five Islamic State-linked militants in a predawn firefight in Marawi on Tuesday, as military officials expressed confidence that they were within days of ending an almost four-month long siege in the southern city.

As the military struggled to clear an estimated few dozen militants, the United States said it had deployed one of its most advanced surveillance drones to help Philippine government forces end the battle in Marawi.