A Catholic priest and churchgoers have been taken hostage by Isis-linked militants attempting to seize control of a city in the Philippines.
Gunmen forced their way into a cathedral in Marawi city and seized the Reverend Chito Suganob alongside more than a dozen members of his congregation and staff as fighting continued to rage with government troops.
Archbishop Socrates Villegas, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines said the gunmen have threatened to kill the hostages “if government forces unleashed against them are not recalled.”
He asked Filipinos to pray for the captives and for the government to make their safety a primary concern.
Isis militants have previously beheaded Christians in gory propaganda videos filmed in Libya and elsewhere, and a Catholic church was previously targeted by supporters in France.
President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law in the south because of the militants' siege on the city on Tuesday and abandoned a trip to Russia to deal with the crisis.
Mr Duterte vowed to place southern Mindanao island, where Marawi is situated, and its 22 million residents under military rule for up to a year if necessary.
“To my countrymen who have experienced martial law, it would not be any different from what President Marcos did. I'd be harsh,” he said in a video recorded on his return flight, referring to the 1970s rule of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
“If it would take a year to do it then we'll do it. If it's over with a month, then I'd be happy. To my countrymen, do not be too scared. I'm going home. I will deal with the problem once I arrive.”
Troops are battling to contain dozens of militants from the Maute group, which pledged allegiance to Isis in 2015, after they escaped a botched security raid on a hideout and overran streets, bridges and buildings.
Two soldiers and a police officer are among those killed and at least 12 people have been wounded in the violence, seeing Maute fighters set fire to a school, a church and a prison.
Authorities insisted the situation was under control but residents who fled Marawi said it was in the hands of the extremists, who had allowed civilians to leave.
“The city is still under the control of the armed group,” student Rabani Mautum told Reuters in nearby Pantar town, where some residents were leaving in overloaded trucks.
“They are all over the main roads and two bridges leading to Marawi.
“I was in school when we heard gunfire …when we came out there were blood stains in the building but we did not see dead or wounded."
A photograph from one resident showed the black flag used as a symbol by Isis flying in Marawi.
Alongside another Islamist group known as Abu Sayyaf, the Maute group is one of two major militias in the Philippines linked to Isis, which is attempting to intensify its presence in Asia.
Critics and human rights groups have raised concern over Mr Duterte’s declaration of martial law on the entire island which is roughly the size of South Korea, to contain rebels in one city.
It will last an initial 60 days and the President has until Thursday night to explain his decision to congress under the Philippines’ constitution.
Tuesday's failed raid was aimed at capturing Isnilon Hapilon, a leader of the Abu Sayyaf group notorious for piracy, banditry and for kidnapping and beheading Westerners.
Mr Duterte has warned repeatedly that Mindanao, an impoverished region beset by decades of unrest by separatist and Marxist guerrillas, was at risk of ”contamination“ by Isis fighters driven out of Iraq and Syria.
Armed forces spokesman Edgard Arevalo played down the prospect of a larger scale conflict and claimed rebels were “merely courting the acclamation of Isis”.
Additional reporting by agencies
