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BY PRINCE GOLEZ
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Wednesday, June 21, 2017
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MANILA – Malacañang allayed fears that the southern city of Marawi is becoming a hub for terrorist recruitment.
Fighting between government troops and the Maute terrorist group has been ongoing in the Lanao del Sur capital for almost a month now.
“It is unlikely for Marawi to become a new hub for IS (Islamic State) fighters,” Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella told a news conference on Tuesday.
United States lawmakers expressed concern that the southern city could become a Southeast Asian hub of extremism.
“I don’t know that ISIS are directing operations there but they are certainly trying to get fighters into that region,” United States senator Joni Ernst was quoted in an Associated Press report as saying, using another acronym for the IS. “We need to address the situation. It should not get out of control.”
Abella said the Philippine military preempted the Maute — an IS-linked local group —from establishing a wilayah, or province, in Marawi.
The presidential spokesperson also underscored the United States’ involvement in the fight to quell the Islamist militants.
“The role of the US in relation to IS is to provide technical assistance as prescribed by the Constitution, and we will abide by that,” Abella said./PN
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