Bawner: No indication of any group in PH heeding the call of Hamas for jihad
No group in the Philippines has so far expressed interest in heeding the call of Hamas to launch a jihad, a top official of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said on Thursday, Oct 19.
But AFP chief of staff Gen. Romeo Brawner, Jr. said they are still on monitoring mode with the assistance of the top officials of various groups in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
Hamas was earlier reported to have been calling Muslim groups across the country to launch a jihad in support of its conflict with Israel which started when its armed men conducted operations in the southern part of Israel which resulted in the death of hundreds of civilians.
In response, Israel launched air raids and is now preparing for ground invasion of Gaza.
“We were quite concerned with the call of Hamas on social media. Of course this is concerning for us because of the experiences that we have when it comes to terrorism,” said Brawner.
“But as we monitor the situation in the country, we are happy to note that so far there are no indications of any terrorist groups heeding the call of jihad but we are working closely together with officials in the Bangsamoro,” he added.
Brawner said he met with the commanders in Mindanao, as well as local chief executives during his visit in Marawi City.
He said all of them assured him that they have not monitored any terror group or even individuals attempting to launch any attack.
“We have alerted our commanders nationwide for the Armed Frces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police to be alert, to be on the lookout for any of these possible spillovers f the events that’s happening in Gaza,” said Brawner.
For her part, PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo said they have not monitored any serious threat relating to the conflict in Israel and Gaza.