Tag: Terrorism

Authorities downplay BIFF threats vs President Duterte

(Eagle News) — Authorities on Friday downplayed the direct threats the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters made against President Rodrigo Duterte, with the military saying they were made out of sheer “desperation.” “The pronouncement of the BIFF was (out of desperation). What happened in Pigcawayan recently was in retaliation for and somehow a diversionary attack resulting from major setbacks they have been experiencing in Mindanao,” Brigadier General Gilbert Gapay, the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Eastern Mindanao martial […]

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EU leaders urge Internet giants to fight online extremism

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — European Union leaders on Thursday urged Internet firms to do their utmost to combat online extremism promoting attacks or face the possibility of legislation if the industry self-regulation fails. EU leaders meeting at a summit in Brussels increased the pressure on United States giants like Facebook and Twitter to rein in online propaganda amid a recent spate of terror attacks in Britain, France and Belgium. “We are calling on social media […]

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Military says Omar Maute likely dead; Gov’t troops closing in on brother Abdullah, Abu Sayyaf’s Hapilon

(Eagle News) — The Armed Forces of the Philippines said on Thursday that one of the leaders of the terrorist group Maute was likely dead. “Omar(khayam) Maute, more or less, mukhang patay na ito,” General Eduardo Año said in an ambush interview on the sidelines of a security meeting in Pasay. According to Año, his brother Abdullah was, however, still alive, and was still inside Marawi. The “death” of Omarkhayam comes weeks after the arrest of Cayamora […]

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Australia sends spy planes to southern Philippines

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australian military spy planes will start flying missions over the southern Philippines to help in the fight against Islamic militants terrorizing the area, the government said Friday. Fighters linked to the Islamic State (IS) group have been battling troops for a month around Marawi city in the Mindanao region in a conflict that has claimed lives. Canberra, which has an extensive defense cooperation program with Manila, said two high-tech AP-3C Orion aircraft […]

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PHL, Malaysia, Indonesia agree to discuss proposed plan of action to counter terrorism, violent extremism in region

  (Eagle News) — The Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia on Thursday agreed to “task senior officials to consider a proposed plan of action” that will counter terrorism and violent extremism in the region. Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said in a press conference after a meeting with his counterparts in Pasay that the proposal will discuss ways to: enhance efforts and cooperation in addressing the root causes and underlying conditions of extremism including but not limited […]

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Gov’t gears up for looming return of evacuees to Marawi as troops close in on Maute, Abu Sayyaf

(Eagle News) — The government is now gearing up for the looming return of evacuees to Marawi, as government troops close in on local terrorists who have wrought havoc in the city. In a briefing in Malacanang on Thursday, Department of Social Welfare and Development Secretary Judy Taguiwalo said President Rodrigo Duterte was “setting aside” P20 billion for the “reconstruction” of Marawi, where government troops are close to defeating members of the Maute and Abu Sayyaf groups that have pledged […]

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Military says hostage-taking in Pigcawayan over; all hostages unharmed, accounted for

The occupation of a school by Islamic terrorists in Cotabato is now over, with each of the 31 hostages the militants took accounted for and unharmed, the Armed Forces of the Philippines said on Wednesday night. “It’s all resolved, all the hostages have been accounted for, no one was hurt,” military spokesperson Brigadier General Restituto Padilla told AFP by phone. The unrest occurred in Pigcawayan, a farming town about 160 kilometers (100 miles) from Marawi […]

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Brussels bomber was Moroccan national aged 36: prosecutor

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — Belgian authorities on Wednesday identified the bomber killed by soldiers in a busy Brussels rail station as a 36-year-old Moroccan national. “The assailant has been identified as O.Z., born 20 January 1981 and of Moroccan nationality,” spokesperson Eric Van Der Sypt said at a press conference after Tuesday’s attack. “He was not known to the authorities for any terrorism connection,” Van Der Sypt said, declining to give the man’s full name […]

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Brussels station bomber identified

by Lachlan Carmichael Agence France-Presse BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) – Belgian security forces have identified the man who set off an explosion at one of Brussels’ busiest train stations before he was shot and killed, in the latest attack to hit Europe, authorities said Wednesday. Interior Minister Jan Jambon said the attack Tuesday evening could have been much worse because the “big explosion did not happen,” adding more details about the device would be released shortly. Witnesses said […]

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British police question Finsbury Park attacker

  by Robin Millard Agence France Presse Police on Tuesday questioned a man suspected of deliberately mowing down Muslims in London, as the interior minister said Britain was “bruised but not broken” by a string of terror attacks. Britain was coming to terms with the aftermath of its fourth bloody assault in three months following Monday’s van attack on people leaving the Finsbury Park Mosque in north London. The family of Darren Osborne, the man […]

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Soldiers shoot attacker in Brussels ‘terrorist’ blast

by Clément Zampa / Alex Pigman Agence France Presse Belgian soldiers shot a terror suspect after an explosion rocked the central train station in Brussels on Tuesday in the latest attack to hit Europe. Witnesses said the suspect shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is Greatest) before causing the blast, with local media saying the individual had activated an explosive belt. Authorities reported no casualties, apart from the attacker who was killed in the confrontation. Crying passengers […]

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Paris attacker on terror watchlist; had gun license

by Katy Lee Agence France Presse Questions arose Tuesday over how a known radical Islamist who rammed a car into a police van on Paris’s Champs-Elysees was able to hold a gun license. Adam Djaziri, a 31-year-old who had been on a watchlist for radical Islamists since 2015, was killed on Monday as his car loaded with a gas canister smashed into the van on the French capital’s most famous avenue. Two handguns and a […]

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