Indonesia: 1,200 IS operatives in Philippines
SINGAPORE: There are about 1,200 Islamic State (IS) operatives in the Philippines, including foreigners of whom 40 are from Indonesia, Indonesia’s defence minister told an international security forum yesterday.
Speaking here as the bloody standoff between Philippine troops and militants fighting under the IS flag in Marawi city entered its 13th day, Defence Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu described the militants as “killing machines” and called for fullscale regional cooperation against them.
“I was advised last night that (there are) 1,200 IS (operatives) in the Philippines, and around 40 (of them are) from Indonesia,” Ryacudu told the Shangri-La Dialogue, a major defence summit for countries from the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.
The threat of heightened terrorism, including the impending return of hundreds of Southeast Asian fighters who fought with IS in Syria and Iraq, has been a hot-button issue at the three-day Singapore summit, which was also attended by US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis and Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.
Hundreds of gunmen rampaged through southern Philippine city of Marawi on May 23 after government forces attempted to arrest their leader, Isnilon Hapilon.
Philippine Defence Undersecretary Ricardo David, speaking at the same forum, said the figure of 1,200 IS fighters in the Philippines as mentioned by Indonesia was new to him.
“I really don’t know, my figure is about 250-400, a lot less,” he told reporters.
Earlier, Mattis moved to reassure Asian allies that the US can work with China on reining in North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme without compromising its opposition to Beijing’s continued “militarisation” of the South China Sea.
President Donald Trump – who frequently denounced China on the campaign trail – has turned to Beijing to help pressure Pyongyang, prompting broad concerns that America will go easy on China’s maritime activities.
“In the security arena, we have a deep and abiding commitment to reinforcing the rules-based international order, a product of so many nations’ efforts to create stability,” Mattis said. – AFP