PH, Australia allies vs terrorism – Turnbull

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Monday said that Australia and the Philippines are allies in the fight against terrorism.

“Australia and the Philippines are in the same fight, the fight for freedom. This threat of terrorism of Islamist terrorism is a global one and it is all connected,” Turnbull said after witnessing the counter-terrorism capability demonstration between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Australian Defense Forces at the Camp Aguinaldo Grandstand in Quezon City.

Turnbull said that better cooperation against terrorism is needed as many of the Islamic State fighters that saw action in Marawi City were from all over the world.

“They come from Indonesia or Malaysia, they’ve been to the Middle East, some of them were Arabs from the Middle East. It is a global fight and President Duterte and your Armed Forces, General... you were able to bring that insurgency to an end quickly,” he said.