Military: 40 foreign radicals entered amid Marawi clash

MANILA, Philippines — The military admitted on Friday that around 40 foreign terrorists had already entered the country as it highlighted the need to secure its borders especially in Mindanao.

At a media conference, Brig. Gen. Gilbert Gapay, deputy commander of the military's Eastern Mindanao Command, said that the porous borders of the Philippine archipelago had made the entry of foreign militants possible.

The military's admission came days after the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia have agreed to jointly fight Islamist militants and to establish joint anti-terror patrols in waters straddling the countries' borders.

The entrance of foreign radicals has been reported in years prior to the clash in Marawi. Included were an Islamist preacher who was deported, and a Malaysian terrorist leader killed in Maguindanao.

Security personnel and Islamist fighters belonging to the Maute Group and Abu Sayyaf are currently engaged in a one-month street-to-street battle as the militants tried to establish a so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Marawi, a city of about 220,000.

This plan has alarmed the Philippines' neighbors as it sparked fears of widespread terror attacks that could leave the region scarred by attacks in the past in flames.

Gapay said that particularly vulnerable was the country's backdoor in the south which had been used by terror operatives to enter the Philippines.

“These foreign terrorists may have seeped into the country through our backdoor in the south because it's very porous as we know it. We are also not discounting the possibility that some may have slipped in the country through our airports and seaports,” he told the media.

He said that based on the latest available information the military estimated that there were already around 40 terrorists in the Philippines.

These supposed jihadists were mostly from Malaysia, Indonesia, some Arab nations and Pakistan.

Gapay emphasized that they had already identified these terrorists and obtained their names.

“Based on the latest intelligence, there are around 40 foreign terrorists now. We have identified them. Most of them are Malaysians, Indonesians. Some of them are Arabs and Pakistanis. We have their names and they are identified,” he said.

These developments should prompt immigration officials and security forces to tighten their monitoring of entry points and backdoors.

Included in measures to prevent the entry of terrorists were enhanced maritime patrols, exchange of information and joint tracking of terrorists.

“It's very porous, and we have to intensify maritime patrols. The recent trilateral agreement is a welcome development because Malaysia and Indonesia are assisting us. The joint patrols there would really plug the porous borders in the south. The exchange of information and the tracking of foreign terrorists would also be helpful,” the military official said.

8 more foreign extremists killed

As the battle for Marawi rages on, eight foreign terrorists were killed by the military in the town, according to Gapay.

Government forces and Islamist militants continue to battle in Marawi, a once dynamic city of 200,000. The fighting has already claimed the lives of 369 individuals and displaced most of its residents, some of whom have already died in evacuation centers because of illnesses.

The military and police have struggled to rid the city of the remaining militants strategically positioned in a small pocket of Marawi.

They have already refused to set a deadline on when the clashes will end after missing several targets in the past.