Australian terrorist pair killed in battle
TWO Australian Islamic State fighters are believed to have been killed in battle in Iraq and Syria in the past week, Acting Prime Minister Julie Bishop has revealed.
Fresh from attending meetings on terrorism at the APEC summit in Vietnam, Ms Bishop said intelligence sharing with countries in the Middle East was more important than ever to track the movements of extremists fleeing the conflict zone.
High-level intelligence from the Five Eyes network has detailed the suspected deaths of two Australians in Syria and Iraq in the past week.
The ages of the two are not known, but the majority of those who left Australia to fight alongside Islamic State were men in their teenage years or 20s.
“ISIS will continue losing territory in its remaining posi- tions in eastern Syria from the north and the south. This loss of territory is matched by loss of ISIS fighters,” Ms Bishop said.
“The Government estimates at least 68 and possibly as many as 87 Australians have been killed as a result of their involvement in the conflict in Syria and Iraq.”
Ms Bishop said intelligence sharing with Turkey had been escalated to help keep track of fleeing terrorists.
“As the international campaign to defeat ISIL continues, some foreign fighters will seek to flee the conflict zone,” she said.
“Improved international co-operation and information sharing with countries like Turkey will prevent their movement.”
Ms Bishop said the battle to drive away Islamic State in the Middle East was forging on.
“The pressure on ISIS continues. In recent days it has lost the Syrian city of Deir az-Sor on the Euphrates River and the town of al-Qaim in western Iraq,” she said.
Australia is also providing military training to the Philippines, which is struggling to deal with an Islamic Statelinked insurgency in Mindanao.