Isis-linked militants take priest and churchgoers hostage in Philippines

A priest and several churchgoers have been taken hostage by Isis-linked gunmen in a besieged southern city, a church leader has said.

Gunmen forced their way into a cathedral in Marawi city and seized the Reverend Chito Suganob and more than a dozen churchgoers and staff as fighting raged between government troops and Muslim militants, Archbishop Socrates Villegas, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines said.

Mr Villegas 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. 

Yesterday, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law in the south because of the militants' siege on the city.

He was returning home from a trip to Moscow to deal with the crisis.