Security forces take tough measures vs. terrorism in Mindanao

Posted to the Mindanao Examiner (Jul 25, 2019): Security forces take tough measures vs. terrorism in Mindanao

SECURITY FORCES have taken tougher measures to fight terrorism in southern Philippines where three suicide attacks on military and civilian targets had killed and wounded scores of people in the troubled region.

And now, the military has publicly announced that at least 7 foreign terrorists with links to ISIS are brainwashing and training local militants to become suicide attackers.

The foreign terrorists are being coddled by the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan and Sulu provinces, and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in Maguindanao province – all in the Muslim autonomous region.

Lieutenant General Cirilito Sobejana, chief of the Western Mindanao Command, did not give details of the 7 foreign terrorists, including their nationalities except that they are affiliated with ISIS or theIslamic State of Iraq and Syria.

“They are here to train bombers, especially suicide bombers. They are also training Filipinos on other terroristic actions,” Sobejana said, adding, the military is vetting the 42 other foreigners appeared in the Mindanao region to determine if they belong to any global terror groups.

“We cannot confirm yet. We have criteria in validating them to be considered as foreign terrorists. It’s more of an effort by our intelligence unit,” he added.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana has earlier voiced concern over Philippines’ frequent suicide bomb attacks. He said the Philippines has so far recorded three suicide attacks since last year, including the June 28 twin bombing attacks at an army camp in Indanan town in Sulu that killed seven.

And the January 2019 attacks by an Indonesian couple on the Catholic cathedral in Sulu’s capital town of Jolo that left dozens of casualties. That attack “changed and raised the level of extremism in the Philippines,” he said.

The Philippine experienced its first suicide bomb attack on July 31, 2018 when a powerful bomb exploded in a van when the troops were inspecting at a military checkpoint in Lamitan City in Basilan. One Filipino soldier, five militiamen, four villagers and the van driver, Moroccan suicide bomber Abu Kathir al-Maghribi were killed in the attack claimed by ISIS.

Because of this development, security forces have intensified its hunt for terrorists, tapping civilians and local government officials and Muslim religious leaders to help them gather information on probable attacks and help fight off ISIS influence and violent Islamic extremism.

The Abu Sayyaf operates in Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi, the Zamboanga Peninsula, and Mindanao, but has also conducted cross-border operations into eastern Malaysia. The group, estimated to have 400 members, is notorious for carrying out kidnappings-for-ransom, bombings, ambushes of security personnel, public beheadings, assassinations, and extortion.

They prey on foreign tourists, businessmen and fishermen not only from the Philippines but also from Indonesia and Malaysia and hide them in Philippine jungles or remote islands. The BIFF, founded in 2010 by Ameril Umbra Kato as a splinter group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), is an Islamic separatist organization also based in the southern Philippines. The BIFF was itself a splinter group of the Moro National Liberation Front. (Xinhua and Zamboanga Post)

https://mindanaoexaminer.com/security-forces-take-tough-measures-vs-terrorism-in-mindanao/