No Al-Qaeda threat in Philippines, say officials
In the wake of a move by Washington D.C. to shut down embassies across the Middle East and North Africa due to a terrorist alert, the Armed Forces of the Philippines has stated that they have not monitored any Al-Qaeda in the country.
In a statement made on August 4, a top official of the country’s military said that surveillance was being actively kept to prevent attacks, while the President’s palace said it would intensify its intelligence gathering activities.
The swift closure of US embassies in the Muslim world came as 1,500 Al-Qaeda-linked prisoners made jailbreaks in Iraq, Syria and other nations of the region.
In the wake of the jailbreaks, the US has issued alerts to its diplomatic posts around the world warning of an Al-Qaeda attack during the Eid Al Fitr holiday.
The US, Australia and Canada maintain travel warnings for the Philippines’ second largest island, Mindanao, notably the Sulu archipelago, where Al-Qaeda-linked Islamist group Abu Sayyaf operates.
“US citizens should continue to defer non-essential travel to the Sulu Archipelago, due to the high threat of kidnapping of international travelers and violence linked to insurgency and terrorism there,” the advisory, dated July 5, 2013, stated.
The warnings also specially mention that business travelers should avoid unnecessary travel to Davao, the island’s largest city.
In the wake of a move by Washington D.C. to shut down embassies across the Middle East and North Africa due to a terrorist alert, the Armed Forces of the Philippines has stated that they have not monitored any Al-Qaeda in the country. In a statement made on August 4, a top official of the country’s military said that surveillance was being actively kept to prevent attacks, while the President’s palace said it would intensify its intelligence gathering activities. The swift closure of US embassies in the Muslim world came as 1,500 Al-Qaeda-linked prisoners made jailbreaks in Iraq, Syria and...
In the wake of a move by Washington D.C. to shut down embassies across the Middle East and North Africa due to a terrorist alert, the Armed Forces of the Philippines has stated that they have not monitored any Al-Qaeda in the country.
In a statement made on August 4, a top official of the country’s military said that surveillance was being actively kept to prevent attacks, while the President’s palace said it would intensify its intelligence gathering activities.
The swift closure of US embassies in the Muslim world came as 1,500 Al-Qaeda-linked prisoners made jailbreaks in Iraq, Syria and other nations of the region.
In the wake of the jailbreaks, the US has issued alerts to its diplomatic posts around the world warning of an Al-Qaeda attack during the Eid Al Fitr holiday.
The US, Australia and Canada maintain travel warnings for the Philippines’ second largest island, Mindanao, notably the Sulu archipelago, where Al-Qaeda-linked Islamist group Abu Sayyaf operates.
“US citizens should continue to defer non-essential travel to the Sulu Archipelago, due to the high threat of kidnapping of international travelers and violence linked to insurgency and terrorism there,” the advisory, dated July 5, 2013, stated.
The warnings also specially mention that business travelers should avoid unnecessary travel to Davao, the island’s largest city.
