An ISIS affiliated group in Marawi, Philippines, is holding a priest and apparently over 200 other Christians hostage:
ICN – A Filipino Catholic priest who was abducted by gunmen claiming to be jihadist militants, last week, has appealed for help in a video posted on social media today, May 30.
Father Teresito Suganob, (known as Fr Chito), vicar general of the Prelature of Marawi, was abducted with a group of church workers by gunmen during Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral on 23 May. Later the Cathedral and other churches in the city were torched, and the city has been taken over by the jihadists. Many people have fled Marawi, but others are hiding in their homes.
In the muffled five minute video, Fr Chito, who is seen standing in a street which looks as though it has been bombed, calls on President Rodrigo Duterte to withdraw security forces from Marawi and stop the bombing. He said there are 240 people who have been caught up in crossfire. “We are prisoners of war” he says. “Collateral damage.” Fr Chito appeals for “Mr President, we are in the midst of this war. We are asking your help to please give what your enemies are asking for.”
Here’s the video of Suganob:
Here’s more:
FOX NEWS – While ISIS continues to flex its muscles worldwide, new attention is being focused on ongoing battles between government forces and ISIS-linked militants in the Philippines. An apparent hostage video has just emerged from there – one week after the violence began – showing a Catholic priest pleading for his life, and the lives of what may be hundreds of others.
Colleagues of Father Teresito Suganob have confirmed his identity after watching the video that recently hit the internet. “We want to live another day, we want to live another month,” Suganob says in a message to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.
In the video, Suganob pleads with Duterte to withdraw government forces from the city of Marawi, where troops have been clashing with unexpectedly formidable ISIS-linked militants since last week. Suganob suggests he is being held hostage along with more than 200 others, including children, although that figure has yet to be confirmed.
More than 100 people reportedly have been killed, including an estimated two dozen civilians, since the fighting began last Tuesday. The situation on the ground is said to be so tense that civilians are reportedly being asked by the government to wear white to distinguish themselves from combatants.
Of course I fear the worst for these Christians, given the track record we see in the Middle East. But regardless, I pray that our brothers and sisters in Christ get released soon or that God causes the hearts of their Jihadi kidnappers to explode.