Maute jihadists, affiliates of the Islamic State terrorist group, have been targeting Christians in Marawi City on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines.
A Philippine priest who was abducted last week by Islamic extremists has appeared in a video calling on the Philippine government to halt military offensives in the Muslim-dominated region of Marawi.
A Filipino cardinal has condemned as “terrorism” a bomb explosion outside a Catholic church in the southern Philippines as clergy in the capital warned they could cancel Masses because of the heightened threat of attacks.