Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines launch coordinated air patrols

Smoke seen in a clash between the Philippine army and Islamic militants in Marawi on September 16 (Photo: AFP/VNA)

Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines on October 12 launched their coordinated air patrols as part of effort to speed up their fight against Islamic militants, who have besieged Marawi, the southern city of the Philippines.

The patrols are made four months after the three countries conducted maritime patrols to prevent Islamic State group-aligned militants in the southern Philippines from fleeing to neighboring nations.

Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the same day that the conflict in the southern Philippine city shows that terrorist organisations linked with the Islamic State group have made use of the region's leaky borders and conspired with local terrorist groups.

The IS militants have swept through Marawi city on the southern island of Mindanao since May 23, killing more than 800 people  and displacing more than 500,000 others.

Given this, President Rodrigo Duterte has extended martial law on the Mindanao island until the end of this year to make it easier for security forces to fight the terrorists.

VNA

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