Since the recapture of Marawi City by government forces in October 2017, militants affiliated with the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) have been pushed back into a strategic retreat. On 24 January 2018, Colonel Romeo Brawner, deputy commander of the Joint Task Force Marawi, stressed that even though hundreds of militants were killed in the battle, there are still IS-affiliated supporters and sympathisers who continue to pursue the goal of establishing an IS-styled regime in Southeast Asia.

On 20 January 2018, members of the IS-affiliated Maute Group disembarked on the southwest of Lake Lanao, less than 40 kilometres from Marawi City, the capital of Lanao del Sur. They attacked troops from the Joint Task Force Ranao, injuring six before escaping by boat. The attack was the first clash since the Marawi battle and may foreshadow more trouble in the Philippines.

… Jasminder Singh is a Senior Analyst with the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR), a constituent unit of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

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