Showing posts with label Troops. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Troops. Show all posts

Thursday, August 31, 2017

#Philippines - Duterte says IS battle in 'final stages.


Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Wednesday a three-month battle against Islamic State group supporters occupying parts of a southern city was in its "final stages".

Duterte gave his assessment shortly after government troops secured a vital bridge in Marawi city, allowing them easier access into areas being held by the militants.

"We are in the final stages. So let us send immediately, even air-lift, the police," to Marawi, Duterte said in the capital Manila, about 800 kilometres (500 miles) to the north of the battle zone.

Pro-IS gunmen occupied parts of Marawi, the Islamic capital of the mainly Catholic Philippines on May 23, triggering a battle that the military says has left almost 800 people dead.
The fighting, which has included a US-backed air campaign against the militants, has destroyed large parts of Marawi.

Duterte and security analysts have said the militants carried out the assault in an effort to establish a Southeast Asian base for IS. 

Duterte on Wednesday warned that, even with the Marawi battle over, the militants could still launch attacks elsewhere in the Philippines, particularly in the strife-torn south where the country's Muslim minority is based.

The southern regions of the Philippines have long been troubled by armed Muslim bands including separatist guerrillas and outlaws, some of whom have gravitated towards IS.

Duterte said other southern cities with large Muslim populations, including his hometown of Davao, were vulnerable. He said Manila might also be a target.

Duterte imposed martial law across the southern third of the Philippines immediately after the militants occupied parts of Marawi to combat the security threat.

Hours before Duterte spoke, soldiers in Marawi secured the Mapandi bridge, a vital supply route which had once been menaced by militant snipers and rocket-propelled grenades.

Source - TheJakartaPost
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Friday, August 25, 2017

#Thailand - Sa Kaeo immigration officers step up vehicle checks in search for Yingluck



Immigration police and troops at the Aranyaprathet border checkpoint in Sa Kaeo province on Friday stepped up their checks of vehicles leaving the country as part of the search for former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

The ex-PM had failed earlier in the day to attend the Supreme Court to hear the judgement in the rice-pledging case against her.

At 10am, Sa Kaeo immigration police chief Pol Colonel Benjapol Rodsawat issued an urgent order for officials manning the checkpoint to strictly check all vehicles leaving the Kingdom.
Following the order, the immigration police and troops opened all vehicles to check the passengers. They especially examined vehicles with Cambodian licence plates.


Benjapol also sought help from Colonel Nirot Thongmuan, commander of the 12th Ranger Taskforce, Maj-General Hathaitep Kirati-angkul, commander of the 19th Army Circle, and Aranyaprathet district chief Soawanit Suriyakul to intensively check vehicles travelling on border roads in the district.

Source - TheNation
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