ISIS Terrorist Attack in Manila
The US State Department has acknowledged the attack and warned citizens to stay away from the vicinity of the mall, including the country’s main Ninoy Aquino Airport, which is responsible for handling over 100,000 passengers daily.
Casualties were seen being carried out of Resorts World Manila on stretchers and loaded up onto ambulances, or helped to make their own way out of the center in the aftermath of the incident, which occurred at about 1:30am local time on Friday morning.
Resorts World Manila is an integrated resort, located in Newport City, opposite the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3, in Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines. “The resort is a popular location with British and other foreign tourists, and the area remains on lockdown for the moment,” RT correspondent Charlotte Dubenskij said by phone from Manila.
SWAT teams and fire brigades have surrounded the large Resorts World Manila complex, located next to the Philippine capital’s international airport, after reports of gunfire and explosions inside.
Eyewitnesses posted videos on Twitter in which apparent gunshots could be heard emanating from the country’s biggest leisure center, which includes a mall, cinema and casino, while photos were uploaded of a panicky crowd gathered outside.
Photos from Resorts World Manila https://t.co/BTH9csI5YG
— Samantha Barry (@samanthabarry) June 1, 2017
JUST IN: US citizens in the area of Resorts World Manila should "avoid the area" and monitor news reports, US State Dept. says.
— NBC Nightly News (@NBCNightlyNews) June 1, 2017
Witnesses say they saw a gunman "wearing a mask" at Resorts World Manila in Philippines https://t.co/XSEb1o9Asm https://t.co/oahVKbzuOY
— CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) June 1, 2017
Conflict Spreads
The Maute group confronting the Philippine army in Marawi City is no longer considered a local terrorist organization as it has been reinforced by jihadists of Malaysian, Indonesian and “other nationalities,” the country’s authorities have announced.
“Before it was just a local terrorist group.
But now they have subscribed to the ideology of ISIS. They want to make Mindanao as part of the caliphate,” Solicitor General Jose Calida told a news conference, according to Reuters.
He added that Indonesians and Malaysians are among the Islamist radicals who are fighting the army. Meanwhile, an army spokesman said six foreigners were killed in Mindanao on Thursday, including militants of Malaysian, Indonesian and “other nationalities.”
“What’s happening in Mindanao is no longer a rebellion of Filipino citizens” but “has transmogrified into an invasion by foreign terrorists who heeded the clarion call of the ISIS to go to the Philippines if they find difficulty in going to Iraq or Syria,” Calida added, as cited by InterAksyon news.
S. Jack Heffernan Ph.D
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