Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte has asked Moro and Communist rebels to join the fight against the country’s ISIS affiliate.
The unprecedented move on Sunday came ahead of a Supreme Court challenge by six opposition Congress members yesterday to Mr Duterte’s declaration of martial law in the southern island of Mindanao.
Troops are fighting ISIS-affiliated Abu Sayyaf extremists who seized the central Mindanao city Marawi two weeks ago.
Congressman Edcel Lagman, leader of the six, said the the state of emergency was unjustified as there had not been a revolution or invasion.
Several foreign jihadis have been identified among militants killed in the battle to recapture the city of 200,000 residents, almost all of whom have fled.
On Sunday Mr Duterte said he had accepted an offer from Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) chairman Nur Misuari to integrate 2,000-3,000 guerillas into the Armed Forces of the Philippines to help fight the Maute group — Abu Sayyaf’s strongest ally.
And he called on the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the communist New Peoples Army (NPA) to follow suit.
“If you want to join us, you are also invited including the regulars of the NPA,” he said. “Just bring the guns, I will replace them with new ones, and you’ll be enlisted in the armed forces.”
On Monday Mr Duterte met MILF leaders in the southern Mindanao city of Davao.
A MILF statement on Tuesday said chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim welcomed sending its forces “to help in extending necessary humanitarian assistance to civilians still trapped in areas of Marawi."
The unprecedented move on Sunday came ahead of a Supreme Court challenge by six opposition Congress members yesterday to Mr Duterte’s declaration of martial law in the southern island of Mindanao.
Troops are fighting ISIS-affiliated Abu Sayyaf extremists who seized the central Mindanao city Marawi two weeks ago.
Congressman Edcel Lagman, leader of the six, said the the state of emergency was unjustified as there had not been a revolution or invasion.
Several foreign jihadis have been identified among militants killed in the battle to recapture the city of 200,000 residents, almost all of whom have fled.
On Sunday Mr Duterte said he had accepted an offer from Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) chairman Nur Misuari to integrate 2,000-3,000 guerillas into the Armed Forces of the Philippines to help fight the Maute group — Abu Sayyaf’s strongest ally.
And he called on the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the communist New Peoples Army (NPA) to follow suit.
“If you want to join us, you are also invited including the regulars of the NPA,” he said. “Just bring the guns, I will replace them with new ones, and you’ll be enlisted in the armed forces.”
On Monday Mr Duterte met MILF leaders in the southern Mindanao city of Davao.
A MILF statement on Tuesday said chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim welcomed sending its forces “to help in extending necessary humanitarian assistance to civilians still trapped in areas of Marawi."