Armed Forces of the Philippines chief-of-staff Lt. Gen. Felimon Santos Jr. on Monday said the military is monitoring local terror groups that might express sympathy to Iran following the killing of its top general.
In an interview with reporters, Santos said President Rodrigo Duterte met with Philippine security officials to discuss actions on the impact of the killing of Qassem Soleimani in a US airstrike on Jan. 3.
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“We presented our actions taken. No. 1 is our monitoring [of the situation] with our defense attaché(s) [in the Middle East]. No. 2 [is to] intensify our intelligence monitoring on the local terrorist group that might express sympathy to the Iranian cause but as of now [we have still to detect any local terrorist groups] that are affiliated with Iran,” he said.
The Philippine National Police (PNP), meanwhile, has intensified intelligence operations to foil any possible terror plans following the killing of an Iranian top general in a US airstrike in Baghdad.
Lt. Gen. Archie Francisco Gamboa, PNP officer-in-charge (OIC), said police are profiling possible threats of groups who may take advantage or sympathize with the killing of Qassem Soleimani.
Soleimani, the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ elite Quds force, was killed in a US drone airstrike in Iraq on Friday.
His death marked an escalation of tensions between the US and Iran since US President Donald Trump chose to unilaterally withdraw Washington from a 2015 nuclear pact world powers struck with Tehran.
In the preparations for the upcoming Feast of the Black Nazarene on Jan. 9, Gamboa said there are no threats monitored.
“Although we do not expect any serious security issue in this event, we will exercise utmost prudence and readiness in anticipation of perennial public safety scenarios associated with this annual event,” he said.
Gamboa said some adjustments would be implemented this year, including the procession route and security protocol.
Also on Monday, the New York Times reported that the killing of Suleimani was a two-for-one victory for the Islamic State.
First, the killing of General Suleimani removed the leader of one of the Islamic State’s most effective opponents, responsible for building up the alliance of Iran-backed militias that did much of the ground fighting to drive the militants out of their strongholds in Syria and Iraq, the Times said.
The assassination has also redirected the wrath of those militias and their many political allies inside Iraq squarely against the American presence there, raising doubts about the continued viability of the American-led campaign to eradicate what is left of the Islamic State and to prevent its revival in both Iraq and neighboring Syria.
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