Philippine city on alert amid efforts against militants

By Roy Ramos

ZAMBOANGA CITY, the Philippines (AA) – Security forces in a southern Philippines city are on full alert against possible “diversionary tactics” by a Daesh-linked militant group under pressure from ramped up military operations in two troubled majority Muslim island provinces.

The Zamboanga City Police Office's deputy director for administration told Anadolu Agency on Friday that it is standard procedure for police and military forces to increase the alert status whenever operations against the Abu Sayyaf are intensified.

“We are on high alert status since yesterday, but we enjoin the public not to panic but instead increase vigilance. We need their cooperation in this aspect,” Supt. Jomari Albarico said.

Security has been intensified in the predominantly Christian city amid military offensives against the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan and the neighboring province of Sulu, where 15 soldiers and 30 Abu Sayyaf members were killed Aug. 29.

In the past, the Abu Sayyaf has staged bomb attacks in Zamboanga City during military operations in Sulu and Basilan, or when its members have been arrested.

During President Rodrigo Duterte’s visit to the city Wednesday to pay tribute to the soldiers slain in the Sulu fighting, he ordered all military and police units to be on red alert and secure Zamboanga from any possible bomb plots.

The deployment of police personnel in strategic areas to ensure their detection of, and readiness to respond to, any attacks is being overseen by Supt. Albarico.

Police intelligence operatives have been stationed along coastal Muslim settlements on the Zamboanga Peninsula to check reports about the landing of Abu Sayyaf fighters fleeing from the Sulu offensive.

Tightened security measures include roadblocks and checkpoints on key roads and fully armed soldiers patrolling aboard military trucks and motorcycles around the city.

Mayor Isabelle Climaco-Salazar told reporters she has reminded local police to ensure readiness in monitoring peace and order and in coordination with their military counterpart under Task Force Zamboanga.

The city’s police spokeswoman Chief Inspector Helen Flores was quoted by the Philippine Star as saying that officers “who are on leave have [been] recalled to duty to strengthen our security”.

Since 1991, the Abu Sayyaf -- armed with mostly improvised explosive devices, mortars and automatic rifles -- has carried out bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and extortion in a self-determined fight for an independent province in the Philippines.

It is one of two militant groups in the south who have pledged allegiance to Daesh, prompting fears during the stalling of a peace process between the government and the country’s one-time largest Muslim rebel group that it could make inroads in a region torn by decades of armed conflict.