Regina

The green Bato Ali mosque on Marawi’s Gomisa Avenue is a heartbreaking reminder of the fierce battles the military fought to stop supporters of Islamic State (Isis) from carving out a caliphate in the Philippines. The dome, minaret and walls are pockmarked by bullets, shrapnel and gaping holes punched out by bombs. One of the largest allows sunlight to enter the basement underneath the mosque, where militants were once holed up with hostages including a Catholic priest. Centered between the serene shores of Lake Lanao and the mouth of Agus River, and amidst hills, valleys and mountains, nestles the city of Marawi.  For millennia and even beyond, Marawi is the heart of Lanao. But today, the once bustling city center lies eerily empty and abandoned. Its entire landscape of colorful buildings has now become rubble and ruin. This is the Marawi we now see after the Maute Group—a locally-led terrorist cell affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL)—went on a terrorist ra...