Cult followers clash with police while protecting FBI-wanted leader hiding in underground bunker

Police clashed with cult followers as they raided a religious compound holding a fugitive pastor wanted by the FBI for alleged child trafficking and other crimes.

More than 2,000 cops were deployed to arrest the controversial preacher Apollo Quiboloy, 74, at his vast 30-hectare estate which houses his alleged harem of sex slaves in Davao City, the Philippines, on August 24.

Fanatics from the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) - a Christian sect founded by Quiboloy said to have seven million members - reportedly impeded the manhunt by setting up barricades and blocking traffic to the compound.

The protesters were also said to have flung chairs and bottles containing a foul liquid at police.

Authorities said 18 people were arrested for obstruction of justice, while one person died of a cardiac arrest. Six policemen were injured in the clashes.

Police were still besieging the compound on August 27 and have vowed not to leave until Quiboloy is arrested. The FBI said he traffics members around the world, with an inner circle of women who perform what they call 'nighttime duties', taking it in turns to sleep with him.

Police Colonel Jean Fajardo, spokesman of the Philippine National Police, said: 'The search is still ongoing. We are having a few difficulties because the signal we are monitoring using the ground-penetrating radar is moving. We are following the signal and we're still confident that we will find the source.

'The path is winding. There are many secret passages and routes that lead to hallways. These are the challenges we are facing, and one or two days are not enough to complete the search.'

Officers said they were using equipment able to detect people's heartbeats through walls.

During the search, two people believed to be human trafficking victims were also rescued.

The KOJC compound was reported to house a labyrinthine network of underground tunnels and passages, and even a hangar with a taxiway leading to the Davao International Airport.

Quiboloy, who has styled himself an 'Appointed Son of God', is wanted by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation for alleged sex trafficking of children, sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, conspiracy, and bulk cash smuggling.

He grew his following through radio, televangelism, and social media.

Quiboloy has ties with the powerful Duterte family ruling local politics in Davao City. He served as spiritual adviser to the vitriolic former President Rodrigo Duterte and allegedly enjoyed the politician's protections until he stepped down in 2022.