The mayor of Cotabato City has claimed that at least 1,000 residents of Central Mindanao have allied themselves with international terrorist group ISIS, a report on "24 Oras" said Wednesday. Citing an unnamed source, Mayor Japal Gyani Jr. said the number of ISIS sympathizers from Central Mindanao is growing at an alarming rate. He added that most of these individuals were from Cotabato City. Gyani also said some 30 youths have already undergone training under the Ansar Al Khalifah, a local group known to sympathize with ISIS, the group responsible for the recent terrorist attacks in France, Lebanon and Russia that killed over 400 people. The Department of National Defense, for its part, denied the mayor's claims. The Armed Forces of the Philippines has repeatedly stated that ISIS has no confirmed presence in the country. It also said that local bandit groups are only claiming to be ISIS sympathizers to gain funds and notoriety. - See more at: Cotabato mayor says ISIS influence spreading in Central Mindanao | News | GMA News Online
lol These Filipino muslims are just sympathizing with the most violent fundamentals of the day. Al Qaeda, Abu Sayaf and now ISIS.....just another fad. When another group starts killing more people than ISIS is they will start sympathizing with them. Religion of peace.....what a joke.
I think it is a very real threat. Think about it for a minute......most young people and some older people want to be famous....for anything. Look at the Karadashians in the states, what a bunch of losers yet they have a following because they are "famous". Facebook is a huge company for one reason, people can show off and still be accepted even if they are idiots. Which brings me to the conclusion that many young people want to associate with ISIS because of their infamy and could/will try to emulate these crazies. You as a former military man know that one of the worst mistakes you can make is to underestimate someone. I for one take this seriously as it can/will spread if they have any success here at all. Let's not forget Obama said of ISIS, "They are JV". FYI: JV stands for Junior Varsity, a term for those not quite good enough to make the Varsity team.....a basketball term
Of course fundamentalism is dangerous but they were fundamentalists before they started sympathizing with ISIS. The number of extremist Filipino muslims isn't any larger, they are just calling themselves something else now. That's my interpretation of the news though. Another possibility is that the mayor of Catabato is trying to become more "famous" and get more funding from Manila to pocket....err I mean combat terrorism. The mayor hasn't really produced any evidence to back up his claims.
Most likely contrived some-what to keep them guessing and on their flipflops.......ummm... I mean toes!
I wouldn't doubt for a second that they are collecting intel here. If the US military is operating in a location (like they are here for "training" purposes) the CIA is usually not far away. The FBI helps with investigations, of course they are going present themselves to offer help with interrogations and investigations. The secret squirrel guys collect intelligence independently and it's not their call to share the information with the country they are gathering it from....so the Lt. General shouldn't be too surprised that any intel guys haven't spoken to him (and obviously they shouldn't trust him since he likes to talk to the media about who is assisting him). I don't think it would be too much of a stretch to think that even the FBI guys don't know who those secret squirrel guys are. The FBI and CIA don't really talk to each other about their operations much (unless some things have changed recently).
