MANILA, Philippines - There are about 1,200 Islamic State (IS) group operatives in the Philippines, including foreigners of whom 40 are from Indonesia, the Indonesian defense minister told an international security forum yesterday. “I was advised last night, 1,200 IS in the Philippines, around 40 from Indonesia,” Ryacudu told the Shangri-La Dialogue. Philippine Defense Undersecretary Ricardo David said in the same forum that the 1,200 figure for total IS fighters in the Philippines was new to him. Earlier, Philippine defense officials said the slain foreign fighters were from Malaysia, Indonesia, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Chechnya. “That’s why they were able to muster the operations in the area of Marawi,” David said.

Source: Philippine Star June 05, 2017 00:22 UTC