Global terrorism thread

"These fireworks have no effect on Iran. They will soon be eliminated ... They are too small to affect the will of the Iranian nation and its officials," state TV quoted him saying.

Khamenei added that Iran, which is helping Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fight rebels including Islamic State fighters, had prevented worse attacks through its foreign policy.

The powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps accused Saudi Arabia of being behind the action, a rare such incident in Iran.

"This terrorist attack happened only a week after the meeting between the U.S. president (Donald Trump) and the (Saudi) backward leaders who support terrorists. The fact that Islamic State has claimed responsibility proves that they were involved in the brutal attack," a Guards statement said.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir, speaking in Berlin, said he did not know who was responsible and there was no evidence Saudi extremists were involved.

"We can jailbreak ... we can go inside schools ... we can take hostages," he said in a mix of regional languages and English. "But we need to seize a highway so people will be scared."

Seated at a table among them was Isnilon Hapilon, leader of the Abu Sayyaf group who was proclaimed by Islamic State last year as its "emir" of Southeast Asia. The U.S. State Department has offered a bounty of up to $5 million for his arrest.

Hapilon has formed an alliance with the Maute group, a tactically smart, social-media savvy outfit, and at least two other factions that have lined up behind the ultra-radical Islamic State.

"It was clear that these terrorists, the Maute group, their end goal is to make Marawi ... independent, or to separate from the republic," Senator JV Ejercito told Reuters.

The killings took place when the Islamists attacked and took over the town of Af Urur.

"Now we confirm 38 people, mostly soldiers, died and 18 others were wounded. I believe some were captured alive and taken away," Major Mohamed Abdi, a Puntland military officer, told Reuters.

"Numerous, heavily armed al Shabaab fighters attacked us from every direction and after hours of fierce battle I was among those who ran for their lives."

Bari regional Governor Yusuf Mohamed told Reuters the Puntland military had recaptured the town.

The assault came days after Puntland sentenced to death five al Shabaab members arrested on April 26 as they drove a vehicle carrying barrels packed with explosives into Bosaso, Puntland's capital.

Af Urur lies about 100 km (60 miles) south of Bosaso, near the Galgala hills, an area controlled by al Shabaab. Its fighters have attacked and captured the town several times.

"Al Shabaab fighters killed local residents of the town including elders, women and children. It is the norm of al Shabaab to kill civilians when they are defeated," a statement from the Puntland president's office said.

Duterte told a news conference in Cagayan de Oro City, about 100 km (62 miles) from the besieged town of Marawi, that he had "never approached America" for help.

When asked about U.S. support to fight the pro-Islamic State militants in Marawi City on the island of Mindanao, Duterte said he was "not aware of that until they arrived."

The cooperation between the longtime allies in the battle is significant because Duterte, who came to power a year ago, has taken a hostile stance towards Washington and has vowed to eject U.S. military trainers and advisers from his country.

It is unclear whether the pro-American military went over Duterte's head in seeking U.S. help.

The Philippines military said on Saturday U.S. forces were providing technical assistance but had no "boots on the ground", confirming a statement from the U.S. embassy in Manila which said the support had been requested by the government. [nL3N1J7054]

The seizure of Marawi on May 23 by hundreds of local and foreign fighters has alarmed Southeast Asian nations, which fear the ultra-radical group Islamic State is trying to establish a stronghold on Mindanao that could threaten their region.

The Pentagon, which has no permanent presence in the Philippines but for years has kept 50 to 100 special forces troops in the south of the country on rotational exercises, confirmed it was helping the Philippine military in Marawi.

It said in a statement on Saturday it was providing Philippine forces with security assistance and training in the areas of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. It said it had an additional 300 to 500 troops in the country to support regular training and activities, without giving further details.

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said support included aerial surveillance and targeting, electronic eavesdropping, communications assistance and training. A U.S. P-3 Orion surveillance plane was seen over the town on Friday.

"These fireworks have no effect on Iran. They will soon be eliminated ... They are too small to affect the will of the Iranian nation and its officials," state TV quoted him saying.

Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jo-Ar Herrera said the 'Maranao' clan, to which the Mautes belong, has a matriarchal tradition, and so their mother played a central role.

He said Farhana Maute, who according to the neighbor had furniture and used-car businesses, helped finance the group, and she drove recruitment and radicalization of local youths.

On Friday, she was stopped outside Marawi in a vehicle loaded with firearms and explosives and taken into custody. It was a major blow for the militants, according to Herrera, as she had been the "heart of the Maute organization".

A day previously, the brothers' father, an engineer, was arrested in Davao City, 250 km (155 miles) away.

The security lapse affected more than 1,000 workers across 22 departments at Facebook who used the company’s moderation software to review and remove inappropriate content from the platform, including sexual material, hate speech and terrorist propaganda.

A bug in the software, discovered late last year, resulted in the personal profiles of content moderators automatically appearing as notifications in the activity log of the Facebook groups whose administrators were removed from the platform for breaching the terms of service. The personal details of Facebook moderators were then viewable to the remaining admins of the group.

Of the 1,000 affected workers, around 40 worked in a counter-terrorism unit based at Facebook’s European headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. Six of those were assessed to be “high priority” victims of the mistake after Facebook concluded their personal profiles were likely viewed by potential terrorists.