‘Finish off Abu Sayyaf before they are contaminated by Islamic State’
President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the Philippine Army to destroy the Abu Sayyaf militant group mainly operating in southern Philippines.
This is the order of the president on Wednesday in visiting troops in Zamboanga del Sur saying if not, the Philippines risked being “contaminated” by Islamic State.
“Destroy them, that’s an order,” Duterte told soldiers at an army base in the southern province of Zamboanga del Sur on violence-plagued Mindanao island.
The commander-in-chief illistrates Abu Sayyaf as terrorists and bandits who kill civilians for no apparent reason, and ruled out negotiations.
Action was necessary now, or the Philippines risked being “contaminated by the ISIS disease”, he said, referring to Islamic State.
“I see a looming problem, in three to seven years from now, we will have a problem with ISIS,” Duterte said.
He pledged to provide them with modern equipment to fight Abu Sayyaf, adding that everything had to be done now before the Philippines is penetrated by the terrorist network.
Duterte, who has been touring army camps since coming to power five weeks ago, said he planned to recruit 20,000 more soldiers to help protect the country’s territorial integrity.
“We want to control all areas and we don’t want to lose any territory,” he said, reiterating a close alliance with the United States in fighting Islamist militancy, and in the Philippine maritime dispute with China in the South China Sea.
Abu Sayyaf is a small but violent insurgent group which has been an enemy of the state for 25 years. They are notorious for extortion, kidnappings and bombings. They recently freed 18 Indonesians and Malaysian tugboat crew members after getting ransom.
In June, they beheaded two Canadians after kidnapping them from a Filipino resort and recently freed 18 Indonesians and Malaysian tugboat crew members after a ransom was paid.