Pinoys in Iraq warned vs IS bombings
Filipinos in Iraq should remain vigilant following a wave of terrorist bombings in Baghdad, for which the terror group Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility, the Philippine embassy said Friday.
In an advisory, the embassy urged close to 300 Filipinos working in Baghdad to exercise caution and limit their movement following the explosions.
The terrorists carried out attacks on Wednesday in at least four locations in Baghdad, the deadliest of which was in the Shia enclave of Sadr City, where a powerful car bomb took out more than 60 civilians and wounded 87 others.
On Thursday, two suicide bombers detonated themselves at a police station in Abu Ghraib, killing five officers and wounding 12 others.
The bombings left almost 100 people dead and many more wounded in just a span of 48 hours.
“Fortunately there were no Filipinos among the dead or wounded in the latest attacks but just the same we would like to underscore the need for our kababayan in Iraq to remain vigilant,” chargé d’affaires Elmer Cato said.
The embassy also called on Filipinos to avoid demonstrations and other public gatherings as these could also be targeted by extremists.
According to the embassy, there are around 2,000 Filipino workers in Iraq.
Cato also urged those among the 2,000 Filipinos working in Iraq who still have not registered to provide their contact details to the embassy so that they could easily be reached during emergencies.
The embassy said it is ready to repatriate Filipinos in Baghdad and other parts of Iraq who want to return home due to security concerns.
More than 50 Filipinos have been repatriated since the Philippine government placed Iraq under Alert Level 4 in 2014 after the IS captured large parts of the country.
The embassy also said that the temporary freeze in the processing and deployment of new workers to Iraq remains in place and that only Filipinos with existing job contracts in the Kurdistan region can be allowed to travel to the Philippines and return to their jobs in Iraq.