Foreign jihadi fighters flock to Mindanao

COTABATO CITY—Foreign fighters of the Islamic State are flocking to Mindanao to help local jihadi groups establish a caliphate in Southeast Asia, two sources told the Inquirer on Friday.

Professor Rommel Banlaoi, chair of Philippine Institute for Peace, Violence and Terrorism Research, said the foreign terrorist fighters monitored to have entered Mindanao came from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Morocco, Spain, France, Tunisia, Iraq, Somali, Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Pakistan, Bangladesh and China.

But the bulk of the foreign fighters came from Indonesia and Malaysia, which both share maritime borders with the Philippines.

“The [foreign fighters] regard Mindanao as the new land of jihad, safe haven and alternative home base,” Banlaoi said.

Lt. Col. Gerry Besana, spokesperson for the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Western Mindanao Command, said the Islamic State continued to inspire local sympathizers despite their failure to establish an Islamic territory in Marawi during their five-month siege of the Islamic city last year. —BONG S. SARMIENTO