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After Stunning Loses In The Middle East, Islamic Terror Group ISIS Sets Up New Beachhead In The Philippines

As ISIS loses ground in the Middle East, militants from around this region are moving their operations to Southeast Asia — primarily the Philippines.

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9 years ago

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At a crowded center for refugees fleeing the fighting that has ravaged this city, Merlinda Obedencio never lets her most valuable possession out of sight: a blue cellphone. It is the only link she has to her husband and three of their six children being held by Islamic State-linked extremists ISIS.

Obedencio’s husband, Raul, and their children were captured by the local Maute extremist group during a siege that started May 23 and has left almost 600 dead.

Almost 400,000 people have been displaced by the fighting in Marawi, a city on the southern island of Mindanao, according to the Philippine military. And like Obedencio, most face an uncertain future in a region turned upside down by extremist violence.

The Islamic State, also known as ISIS, views the drawn-out battle as a major win at a time when it is being driven out of its base in Iraq and Syria, bringing greater attention to the Philippines and Southeast Asia as a new beachhead for extremists.

“This is what I consider the first significant example of how foreign fighters from the Syria/Iraq battle space can be brought to bear in another part of the world,” said Thomas Sanderson, director of the Transnational Threats Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.

After weeks of not knowing whether her family was alive, Obedencio got a call from her husband, who got access to a hidden cellphone. He said he is forced to cook for his captors. He said their 20-year-old son is being used as a human shield on the front lines, while their daughter, 17, was “married” to one of the fighters.

Her husband has since been able to call or text a handful of times, and this contact helps Obedencioda, a devout Christian, keep going.

“For almost two months, I can’t sleep well,” she said. “I’m always thinking of them — are they in good hands? Sometimes when they call I thank God that my family is still alive. I don’t know what we will do after this. All I can do is pray.”

Farhan Macapandia, 23, an English teacher, spent 13 days trapped at home with 11 family members and neighbors after the fighting broke out. The last four days were spent without food, having only rainwater they could collect.

The group finally made a break to safety, carrying only a few essentials. They’re now staying at an evacuation center in the military-controlled compound near the heart of the fighting, where daily airstrikes rattle the buildings and stray bullets are a routine danger.

“We don’t have any idea right now if our house is still there,” said Macapandia. ”We don’t have money. Our access to work, lost. Our house, lost. Everything, lost. It seems that we need to have a new life, a new beginning.”

While residents blame the extremists for the violence and chaos, many are also growing impatient with the military and its heavy airstrikes, which are leveling buildings throughout the city.

“We are angry at the two sides — ISIS and the military,” said Macapandia’s mother, Nabiliah. “We are trapped here in a war zone.”

The fighting has been contained to a 7,500-square-foot area of the city, with 60 to 70 militants holding about 100 hostages, said Lt. Col. Jo-Ar Herrera, spokesman for the military’s Task Force Marawi.

The fighting, which initially was expected to end in a matter of days, has killed 427 militants, 99 soldiers and 45 civilians, according to the military. The Philippine congress voted Saturday to extend martial law on Mindanao until the end of the year. President Rodrigo Duterte had declared martial law for 60 days when the fighting began.

Herrera admitted the battle has “exposed the gaps and weaknesses” in the military’s ability to conduct urban warfare. “We should see the city or urban area as the battleground of the future, and we need to upgrade our capabilities,” he said.

Among the fighters who were killed are militants from Chechnya, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, while fighters from Pakistan and Morocco are still active in the city, the Philippine military said. A greater future danger may be fighters from Southeast Asia returning from Iraq and Syria, said analyst Sanderson.

“Without a doubt, Southeast Asians returning is perhaps the most lethal element of the discussion, because they are coming with the same high-level combat skills that the other combatants have, but these are guys who know the local territory and language,” Sanderson said.

As ISIS loses ground in the Middle East, militants from around this region are moving their operations to Southeast Asia — primarily the Philippines, said Sidney Jones, director of Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict,

“The idea that the Philippines is now the destination of choice rather than Syria has sunk in,” she said. “That’s definite now.”

Jones warned that the Philippine military is treading a thin line by using excessive force, because of its long history of taking a harsh stance against extremist groups in Mindanao.

“One theme that was used to bring people on board to the ISIS message is the brutality of the security services,” she said. “This was before even the airstrikes. So I think there’s got to be a serious re-think of how the Duterte administration responds to extremism. Because if they’re not careful, they’re going to be building a new generation of extremists, not eradicating the generation that’s there now.”

Many in Marawi agree that the aftermath of the fight may be the biggest challenge.

“There will be social disorder, political instability, health issues,” said Norodin Alonto Lucman, a well-known former politician and Muslim chieftain.

Lucman, who harbored in his home 74 civilians — including 31 Christians — for 12 days during the conflict before escaping, said many conditions that caused extremism in the first place will be exacerbated by the fighting here.

“We believe that this rebellion in Mindanao is caused by poverty,” he said. “With the Marawi crisis, you reduce thousands more people into poverty — but now they have guns.”

In the meantime, Obedencio waits with her blue phone for news about her trapped family. “It’s so hard to be a mother trying to look forward to their release,” she said. “I pray all the time. It’s just a great nightmare.” source

 

 

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BOOTS ON THE GROUND! President Trump Orders 5,000 Marines To Deploy To The Strait Of Hormuz As His War With Iran Grows Harder To Contain

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1 day ago

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March 13, 2026

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Donald Trump has deployed thousands of US Marines to the Strait of Hormuz amid mounting fears that America is set to put troops on the ground as the world’s oil supply is strangled.

The Strait of Hormuz is not just another stretch of water on a map. It is the narrow artery through which nearly a fifth of the world’s oil supply must pass, and when tension builds there the entire global system begins to shake. Now thousands of U.S. Marines and additional naval forces are being moved toward the region as the possibility of confrontation with Iran grows, and the world is once again staring at the Middle East powder keg. World War 3, anyone?

“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.” Matthew 24:7,8 (KJB)

When America starts moving Marines and warships into position around the Persian Gulf, that is not routine diplomacy. That is the unmistakable language of military preparation. It means the Pentagon — the Department of War — is positioning pieces on the chessboard in case the crisis around the Strait of Hormuz erupts into open conflict. Iran knows exactly where the leverage is. If the regime in Tehran ever seriously attempts to choke off the Strait of Hormuz, it would send oil prices skyrocketing overnight and slam the global economy into chaos. That is why the United States has historically treated that narrow waterway as a line that cannot be crossed. The question now is whether the current escalation is a show of force meant to deter Iran, or the opening chapter of something much larger.

Every warship sent to the Persian Gulf, every Marine deployment, every rising confrontation between Iran, Israel, and the West pushes the world another step closer to the moment when the Middle East explodes into the final series of conflicts the Bible describes. But while the world watches the Strait of Hormuz and wonders if another war is about to begin, the born-again Church is watching for something else entirely.

Trump deploys 5,000 Marines into Hormuz tinderbox as boots on the ground fears grow after 13 US troops die in Iran war carnage

FROM THE UK DAILY MAIL: Secretary of War Pete Hegseth approved a request by US Central Command for the deployment of a Marine expeditionary unit, typically including several warships and 5,000 troops, three officials told the Wall Street Journal. The Japan-based USS Tripoli, an amphibious assault ship, and its attached Marines are now headed for the Middle East, where they join other Marines already in the fight, the officials said.

The war spiraled on Friday as the US death toll climbed to 13 troops, domestic gas prices soared to $3.60 per gallon and Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani defiantly taunted Trump on the streets of Tehran. The bolstered deployment comes as the Trump administration weighs seizing Iran’s Kharg Island, around 16 miles off the mainland in the Persian Gulf, which handles 90 percent of the Islamic regime’s fuel exports.

Trump told Fox News Radio Friday about taking control of the island: ‘It’s not high on the list, but it’s one of so many different things, and I can change my mind in seconds.’

Hegseth earlier lashed out at reporters at a press briefing at the Pentagon, slamming ‘fake headlines’ about the war and claiming ‘we’re dealing with’ the Strait, adding ‘you don’t need to worry about it.’ All six service members aboard a refueling aircraft that crashed in Iraq were confirmed dead as the stalemate in the Strait deepened.

The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker went down in western Iraq after a mid-air collision in friendly airspace at around 2pm ET Thursday, with four crew members initially confirmed dead.

US Central Command confirmed Friday that two further crew members died after rescue efforts failed. The second aircraft involved in the collision landed safely, sustaining minor damage to its tail. The six were not immediately identified as the military informed next of kin, bringing the US death toll in the Iran war to 13 after seven service members were killed in a drone strike on a Kuwaiti base on the second day of fighting. READ MORE

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

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But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORT…TO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

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THE PROPHECY NEWS PODCAST: Washington Launches Massive Joseph Goebbels-Style Propaganda Blitz After 6 More US Soldiers Die In Trump’s War With Iran

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1 day ago

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March 13, 2026

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The Trump administration has launched the biggest propaganda blitz since Joseph Goebbels in WWII to convince you that the war with Iran is going great, it’s not

As Donald Trump’s war with Iran continues to spiral out of control, Washington has launched a massive propaganda blitz that is right out of Joseph Goebbels’s propaganda playbook telling you that the war is one, all is well, we are living in a Golden Age of unprecedented peace and prosperity. Nothing could be further from the truth. Putin is making billions in oil sales, 6 more US soldiers were killed yesterday, and Iran is not even close to regime change or surrender.

“Before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.” Psalm 96:13 (KJB)

On this episode of the Prophecy News Podcast, take a look at the headlines and all of it ranges from bad, to worse, to I don’t even want to think about it. Peter Theil is in Rome preaching about the coming Antichrist, GDP is down to just 0.7% while core inflation has risen to 3.1%, attacks on Jews in America are escalating, gas is at $4.00, Putin is making billions in Trump-approved oil sales, and just for fun, 2026 has 3 Friday the 13th’s one of which is today. Do you know what happened on this exact day and date 6 years ago? Trump declared a national emergency with the COVID Pandemic. We told you 6 years ago all this was not going to end, and it hasn’t. Now, if this was happening under Barack Obama, you’d know exactly what was going on, if this was happening under Joe Biden, you’d know exactly what was going on. But since it’s happening under Donald Trump, you are confused and uncertain what you’re looking at. Why is that? Did you suddenly lose all discernment because you’d rather have a Golden Age than the Pretrib Rapture? Ouch. Today we pull back the curtain on the greatest propaganda campaign since the Ministry of Propaganda and Enlightenment was created in WWII, and show you the truth of what our government is actually telling us. What you do with that information is up to you. If you are a Q-bot or a MAGA disciple, you might want to sit this one out.

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But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORT…TO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

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Headline News

CENTCOM Confirms Loss Of A KC-135 Stratotanker During Refueling Over Western Iraq As Rescue Operations Are Ongoing For Crew Members

Published

2 days ago

on

March 12, 2026

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The news that U.S. Central Command has lost a KC-135 Stratotanker refueling aircraft over western Iraq is not just another military headline

CENTCOM confirmed that two aircraft were involved in the incident, with one KC-135 Stratotanker going down in friendly airspace while the other landed safely, and rescue operations are ongoing. Officials say the crash was not the result of hostile or friendly fire, but the timing is impossible to ignore. It is another reminder that the war now unfolding against Iran is already extracting a price in American lives and equipment — and the cost is climbing.

“No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” 2 Timothy 2:4 (KJB)

This tanker went down in the middle of Operation Epic Fury, the ongoing U.S. military campaign against Iran that has already seen thousands of strikes across the region. And the war has already produced American casualties. In the opening days of the conflict, Iranian missile and drone strikes targeted U.S. forces across the Middle East. A drone attack on a U.S. position in Kuwait alone killed multiple American soldiers, with additional service members later dying from their wounds or other incidents connected to the deployment.

FROM THE US CENTRAL COMMAND: At approximately 2 pm ET on March 12, a U.S. KC-135 refueling aircraft went down in western Iraq. All six crew members on board the aircraft have been confirmed deceased as rescue efforts continue. source

The toll has now reached at least eight American service members dead, with nearly 200 more wounded. If the crew of the KC-135 Stratotanker is not rescued, that will bring the death toll to anywhere between 11-14 soldiers since the war began.

These are not abstract numbers. They are:

  • sons
  • daughters
  • husbands
  • fathers
  • mothers

They are young Americans who left home believing they were serving their country, and now their families are burying them. War always comes with speeches about strategy and national security, but for the families receiving folded flags at Dover Air Force Base, the cost is painfully personal.

The conflict is expanding rapidly. U.S. forces have already conducted thousands of strikes against Iranian targets, and regional tensions are exploding from Lebanon to the Persian Gulf. Oil prices are surging, the Strait of Hormuz is under threat, and global markets are already reacting to the instability.

Meanwhile, the United States is burning through aircraft hours, munitions, and billions of dollars. In the first week alone, the war has already cost over $11 billion, and now another aircraft is gone. A KC-135 Stratotanker tanker is not just another airplane. It is a flying gas station, essential to keeping fighters and bombers in the air. Without tankers, modern air warfare stops. When one of them is suddenly lost in the middle of a major air campaign, it shows how intense the operational tempo has already become.

For now, Washington insists the war is going well. But history teaches a sobering lesson: wars are easy to start and hard to control. Every new headline — a drone strike, a missile attack, a downed aircraft — tells the same story. The price is rising. First came the missile strikes. then the first American casualties, now the loss of a refueling aircraft over Iraq with possible the entire crew lost. And the question hanging over everything is the same one nations have faced for thousands of years: How much will this war ultimately cost before it is finished? Because war always collects its payment made in blood, in treasure, and in consequences that often last long after the shooting stops.

Rescue efforts underway after US KC-135 Stratotanker lost over Iraq

“US Central Command is aware of the loss of a US KC-135 refueling aircraft. The incident occurred in friendly airspace during Operation Epic Fury, and rescue efforts are ongoing,” CENTCOM said. “Two aircraft were involved in the incident. One of the aircraft went down in western Iraq, and the second landed safely. “This was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire.”

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

nteb-free-king-james-bible-program-750-550

But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORT…TO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

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