The three-year program involves helping local officials identify issues that foster extremism and find ways to address them, said U.S. Assistant Secretary Denise Natali of the State Department's Bureau of Conflict & Stabilization Operations. Despite the militants' defeat, Philippine officials say surviving militants have continued efforts to recruit new followers and plot new attacks. The State Department bureau and the Philippine government are finalizing details of the program to help provincial governments and nongovernment groups design and enforce effective projects to counter extremism, Natali said. Religious intolerance, dire economic conditions and exposure to violence spark extremism more than religion, Natali cited the survey as showing. The survey also showed that there was strong public support for the government's effort to combat extremism, she said.

Source: Fox News June 04, 2019 07:30 UTC