ISIS Releases First Propaganda Video for Philippines

Manila, Philippines, 18 Ramadan 1437/23 June 2016 (MINA) — The so-called Islamic State, or ISIS, released a video early on Wednesday in an attempt to recruit radical fighters in the Philippines and neighboring countries.

Rita Katz, director of SITE Intelligence Group tracking the activities of ISIS, said the video targeting the Philippines was in five languages: Arabic, English, Filipino, Indonesian and Malay, Philstar was quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

Screenshots of the video taken by the agency show Filipino, Indonesian and Malaysian fighters urging their countrymen to join their ranks in Syria. But for those who could not reach the Middle East, the group also gave them an alternative.

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“If you can’t get to Syria, ‘join the muhajideen in the Philippines’,” the terror network said, as quoted by Katz on her Twitter account.

Describing the content of the video, deep web monitor Vocativ said the ISIS has appointed a leader in the Philippines by the name of Abdallah al-Filipini, a representative of the self-dubbed caliphate.

The release of the video did not surprise Katz, who noted that the Islamic State has also released an infographic claiming the presence of its network in the Philippines.

In the graphic released earlier this month, ISIS claimed to have 10 fighting battalions in five different locations in the country. It also claimed that ISIS followers mostly in Basilan have killed 289 people since April 2015.

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Security officials in the Philippines denied the presence of ISIS fighters in the Philippines, but noted that several radical groups such as the Abu Sayyaf have pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Islamic State’s self-appointed caliph. (T/R07/R01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)