The Philippine military and police went on full alert yesterday as the predominantly Catholic country prepared for Easter holidays under a cloud of terror threats.
Director General Arturo Lomibao assured the public that they can continue with their plans for the Holy Week, but urged them to remain vigilant against possible attacks.
Police warned that the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group was plotting bomb attacks during the Easter holidays in retaliation for the killing of 22 rebels in a prison revolt last week. Authorities have identified up to six Abu Sayyaf rebels and three militants from the regional Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) group who would allegedly implement plots in Manila and key southern cities.
"We are not sure where they are but we are doing our best to hunt them down," said Chief Superintendent Ismael Rafanan.
Rafanan said one of the JI militants was working with up to six Abu Sayyaf rebels, while the other two JI bombers belonged to a different cell operating independently.
The alleged targets of the attacks include shopping malls and Catholic churches, where Filipinos often flock to during the lenten break. Officials said some 10,000 policemen are being deployed around Manila to guard the potential targets, including bus terminals, airports and seaports which were expected to be crowded. Many Filipinos also take advantage of the Holy Week to visit their provinces for a vacation or a family reunion.
Last month, the Abu Sayyaf claimed responsibility for three near-simultaneous bomb attacks in Manila and two cities, killing 12 and injuring more than 140 others.
A ship that appears to be taking on the identity of a scrapped gas carrier exited the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, showing how strategies to get through the waterway are evolving as the Middle East war progresses. The vessel identifying as liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier Jamal left the Strait on Friday morning, ship-tracking data show. However, the same tanker was also recorded as having beached at an Indian demolition yard in October last year, where it is being broken up, according to market participants and port agent’s reports. The ship claiming to be Jamal is likely a zombie vessel that
Japan is to downgrade its description of ties with China from “one of its most important” in an annual diplomatic report, according to a draft reviewed by Reuters, as relations with Beijing worsen. This year’s Diplomatic Bluebook, which Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s government is expected to approve next month, would instead describe China as an important neighbor and the relationship as “strategic” and “mutually beneficial.” The draft cites a series of confrontations with Beijing over the past year, including export controls on rare earths, radar lock-ons targeting Japanese military aircraft and increased pressure around Taiwan. The shift in tone underscores a deterioration
LAW CONSTRAINTS: The US has been pressing allies to send warships to open the Strait, but Tokyo’s military actions are limited under its postwar pacifist constitution Japan could consider deploying its military for minesweeping in the Strait of Hormuz if a ceasefire is reached in the war on Iran, Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Toshimitsu Motegi said yesterday. “If there were to be a complete ceasefire, hypothetically speaking, then things like minesweeping could come up,” Motegi said. “This is purely hypothetical, but if a ceasefire were established and naval mines were creating an obstacle, then I think that would be something to consider.” Japan’s military actions are limited under its postwar pacifist constitution, but 2015 security legislation allows Tokyo to use its Self-Defense Forces overseas if an attack,
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) yesterday faced a regional election battle in Rhineland-Palatinate, now held by the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD). Merz’s CDU has enjoyed a narrow poll lead over the SPD — their coalition partners at the national level — who have ruled the mid-sized state for 35 years. Polling third is the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which spells a greater threat to the two centrist parties in several state elections in September in the country’s ex-communist east. The picturesque state of Rhineland-Palatinate, bordering France, Belgium and Luxembourg and with a population of about 4 million,
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