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Five Southeast Asian nations to discuss IS threat
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Police special forces prepare to assault the hide-out of militants near the city hall in Marawi, in the southern island of Mindanao on May 28, 2017. Islamist militants who have gone on a rampage in the southern Philippine city have killed 19 civilians, including women and children, the military said on May 28.
(AFP/Ted Aljibe)
D
efense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu said that he would meet with his counterparts from the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore in Tarakan, North Kalimantan, next week to discuss the Islamic State (IS) group’s threat in the region.
“This meeting is held to update each other, so we can be ready if anything happens,” Ryamizard said on Thursday, as quoted by Antaranews.com.
Ryamizard said the meeting would focus on finding ways to prevent the IS-linked Maute insurgents now holding part of Marawi in the southern Philippines from crossing Indonesian borders.
The city of Marawi, which is located on Mindanao Island, shares a border with Indonesia’s North Sulawesi province. Marawi can be reached within five hours by boat from Indonesia’s Morotai Island, one of the country’s outermost islands.
“North Sulawesi is now on full alert because it is located near the Philippines,” Ryamizard said, adding that the government had tightened security measures in the area, including intensifying sea patrol near the borders of Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia.
The Philippines government has imposed martial law in Marawi after Maute militants stormed the city. (saf/ary)
