PH tracking ‘foreign terrorists trained suicide bombers in Mindanao’
Credit to Author: DEMPSEY REYES| Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2019 10:13:16 +0000
BAGUIO CITY: Foreign terrorists who entered Mindanao are “trained” suicide bombers that authorities are tracking as they remain a threat to some cities in the region, Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año said over the weekend.
“We are on heightened alert in Mindanao particularly in the island of Sulu, Basilan, province of Cotabato and Zamboanga because we are still looking for foreign terrorists who are trained suicide bombers,” Año told reporters at the sidelines of the Philippine Military Academy alumni homecoming.
“As long as they are not neutralized, we cannot completely declare safe the key cities in Mindanao,” he said.
At the same time, Año, a former military chief and head of its intelligence, said he agreed with the statement of Admiral Phil Davidson, US Indo-Pacific Command chief, that IS threats were “very serious.”
Davidson made the statement during the US Senate Armed Forces committee early this February.
He cited the deadly bombing at the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral in Jolo, Sulu where 23 were people were killed while dozens of others were injured, as well as the Lamitan City bombing in Basilan last year.
“I would agree because you can see what happened to Lamitan and Jolo Cathedral. There are still foreign terrorists in our country who are inside Mindanao,” Año said.
The Interior chief also said the military and the police must always be prepared and neutralize the foreign terrorists.
As for the Jolo bombing, Año said investigations were still ongoing as authorities were conducting examinations on the DNA samples.
He also disclosed that authorities were still tracking down an Arab-looking terrorist, whom he also believed was someone from Yemen.
After the deadly twin explosions in Jolo, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said he received information that there were individuals that entered Mindanao coming from Yemen.
As for the suicide bombers, Año, meanwhile, said there may be no full confirmation on whether the suspects were Indonesians, but still said he was confident that his conclusion was factual.
“All sources and evidence, everything point that this is an Indonesian couple,” he said.
To further address the threats of foreign terrorists, Año stressed that the Philippines has been in close coordination with its Malaysian and Indonesian counterparts to strengthen its patrolling of terrorist activities, with help coming from the US and Australia.
He added that Manila has also formed its interagency counterterrorism composed of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Philippine National Police (PNP), Bureau of Immigration (BI), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Bureau of Customs (BoC).
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