SYDNEY: A day after the Defense minister of Indonesia claimed that there are 1,200 operatives of the Islamic State (IS) in the Philippines, top US and Australian officials warned that battle-hardened and angry foreign fighters may return to Southeast Asia from the Middle East and take up arms in their own countries. Well, we don’t scare.”US President Donald Trump has instructed the Pentagon to “annihilate” IS to try to prevent foreign fighters from escaping and returning home as they lose ground in Iraq and Syria. This reflects an increasing urgent attempt to stop the fighters bringing their military expertise and ideology back to the West. Australian officials say they have prevented 12 terror attacks on home soil since 2014 with more than 60 people charged. “We will give this to our troops, priority troops in Marawi City,” he said.

Source: Manila Times June 05, 2017 16:30 UTC