Growing worries over transnational terrorism dominated the recent Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, which brought together 23 defense ministers and hundreds of security experts.
The ongoing crisis in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, where an Islamic State affiliate group has laid siege to the Muslim-majority city of Marawi, figured prominently in discussions at the event. After two weeks of intensive military operations, which include air raids on enemy positions across the sprawling city, the Philippine government is yet to take full control of the besieged town.
