Southeast Asia, especially the Philippines, cannot afford to have the Arab-based terror group Islamic State (IS) in its midst, owing to the destruction it has brought in Iraq and Syria, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Monday.
Turnbull issued the statement during the counterterrorism capability demonstration by Filipino and Australian soldiers on Monday afternoon at Camp Aguinaldo, adding Manila and the whole of the region cannot afford to lose to the international terror group.
He assured Australia’s commitment in supporting the drive against the IS and its efforts to establish a foothold in Southeast Asia.
“We cannot afford to let them have a foothold anywhere else, let alone in our region, everything is connected. Syria, Iraq, the Philippines, Indonesia, straits of Australia, we are all connected instantly,” Turnbull said.
“We are in the same fight, and that is why now more than ever, the Australian Defense Force, the Armed Forces of the Philippines are working together, supporting each other, learning from each other, fighting the fight, we cannot afford to lose,” he added.
Turnbull said the fight against the threat of IS is global, noting that its fighters are interconnected as shown in the siege of Marawi City, which, he noted, was quickly ended by the Duterte administration, and which was supported by Canberra.
“Many of the fighters for Islamic State that propelled in Marawi were from all over the world. They come from Indonesia or Malaysia, they’ve been to the Middle East, some of them were Arabs from the Middle East, it is a global fight,” he said.
The Australian prime minister said the IS managed to recruit fighters around the world after it initially “developed reputation” and projected an image of invincibility through its conquest of swathes of territories in Iraq and Syria.
In Marawi it was, however, stumped by the military, which, Turnbull said, Australia was proud to have supported.
“We are delighted, proud to help you win that war in that city,” Turnbull said, noting how the government is working in order to ensure that such terrorism will not happen again anywhere else in the country.
“We saw how focused you are, countering violent extremism and ensuring that an insurgency like that does not occur again,” he said.