Palace: ISIS has No Training Camps in the Philippines
Published December 22, 2015 4:00pm
Malacañang on Tuesday belied reports that international terror group ISIS has set up a training camp in the Philippines.
Quoting National Security Adviser Cesar Garcia, Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said: “ISIS has no training camps in the Philippines.”
“What ISIS-linked personalities have done is to try to link-up with local jihadist/terrorist groups,” Coloma added.
Further, Coloma said: “Some of these ISIS-linked personalities, who are really few in number, have also sought refuge in the base areas of these local terrorist groups.”
Earlier, Mail Online reported that a propaganda video purportedly released by the terror group shows a training camp has been set up in a Philippine jungle.
The video surfaced a month after eight members of an ISIS-inspired group were killed in a clash with the Philippine military in Sultan Kudarat.
Maj. Filemon Tan Jr., spokesman of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) Western Mindanao Command, said government troops encountered the group Ansar Al Khalifa Philippines at Sinapinga, Barangay Butril in Palimbang town.
Tan then said that while the group identified itself with the ISIS, it wasn’t recognized by the jihadist group. He added that the group has been around for a while. — Kathrina Charmaine Alvarez/RSJ, GMA News