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PNoy: PHL willing to help in US campaign vs. ISIS
(Updated 8:49 a.m., Sept. 26) President Benigno Aquino III has expressed the Philippines' intention to assist in the United States' campaign against the Islamic State militant group.
In an interview in New York on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila), Aquino said the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will meet with the US State Department to discuss how the Philippines can help combat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
"Of course, we want to do something na doable and within our capabilities without posing undue risks to their forces or the country at large," he said.
The President made this statement amid a threat from the Abu Sayyaf group, which had reportedly pledged allegiance to the ISIS, to kill a German hostage.
The Abu Sayyaf group, which has been blamed for several kidnapping and bombing incidents in southern Philippines in the past, is also supposedly getting logistical support from the global terrorist group al Qaeda, according to local authorities.
The Philippine military, however, has yet to verify reports that Islamic State jihadists had recruited Filipinos.
1,000 fighters from Asia
On Thursday, Agence France-Presse quoted a senior US military officer as saying that some 1,000 volunteers from the Asia-Pacific region have sought to join the ISIS .
Admiral Samuel Locklear, who oversees American forces across Asia as head of Pacific Command, gave the estimate a day after the US pushed for a resolution committing major powers to block the movement of foreign fighters to Iraq and Syria.
The US earlier this month launched a broad campaign against the Islamic State militant group. Germany was among the countries which supported the campaign.
The Islamic State jihadists control large swathes of Iraqi and Syrian territory, and have been accused of atrocities in these areas. — Andreo Calonzo /KBK/LBG/RSJ, GMA News
In an interview in New York on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila), Aquino said the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will meet with the US State Department to discuss how the Philippines can help combat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
"Of course, we want to do something na doable and within our capabilities without posing undue risks to their forces or the country at large," he said.
The President made this statement amid a threat from the Abu Sayyaf group, which had reportedly pledged allegiance to the ISIS, to kill a German hostage.
The Abu Sayyaf group, which has been blamed for several kidnapping and bombing incidents in southern Philippines in the past, is also supposedly getting logistical support from the global terrorist group al Qaeda, according to local authorities.
The Philippine military, however, has yet to verify reports that Islamic State jihadists had recruited Filipinos.
1,000 fighters from Asia
On Thursday, Agence France-Presse quoted a senior US military officer as saying that some 1,000 volunteers from the Asia-Pacific region have sought to join the ISIS .
Admiral Samuel Locklear, who oversees American forces across Asia as head of Pacific Command, gave the estimate a day after the US pushed for a resolution committing major powers to block the movement of foreign fighters to Iraq and Syria.
"It certainly is an issue that we're paying very close attention to today. There's probably been about 1,000 potential aspiring fighters that have moved from this region, based on kind of our overall assessment," Locklear said at a press conference in Washington.
The US earlier this month launched a broad campaign against the Islamic State militant group. Germany was among the countries which supported the campaign.
The Islamic State jihadists control large swathes of Iraqi and Syrian territory, and have been accused of atrocities in these areas. — Andreo Calonzo /KBK/LBG/RSJ, GMA News
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