EDITORIAL - IS at the door

Despite military denials about the terrorist Islamic State gaining a foothold in Mindanao, IS is seen to have at least inspired the assassination attempt on a Saudi Arabian cleric and a Saudi diplomat Tuesday night in Zamboanga City.

Preacher Aaidh Al-Qarni and Saudi embassy religious attaché Sheikh Turki Assaegh were in Zamboanga for a two-day symposium and Islamic lecture. They had just emerged from the symposium and boarded a vehicle when the gunman approached and opened fire. Police escorting the visitors fired back, killing the gunman. The accomplices were caught.

You have to be unusually daring to try to kill two visiting VIPs with their police escorts right behind them. Daring is a trademark of IS and its fans, so people believe police suspicions focusing on the group. This heightens concerns that IS, or at least its violent message that has gained adherents around the globe, will become a serious threat to the Philippines.

Instead of discounting that possibility, security forces must be prepared to neutralize the threat. Intelligence gathering must be beefed up and resources strengthened for rapid response to an attack.

Mindanao is already plagued by several violent groups: the Abu Sayyaf, Jemaah Islamiyah, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and, in several areas, the communist New People’s Army. The leadership of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front has promised to continue observing a truce with the government despite the failure of Congress to pass a law creating the Bangsamoro. But IS can inspire adherents among any of the Islamic groups, including the MILF.

The military is already kept busy dealing with the Islamic extremists. IS inspiration could raise the level of violence. Government security forces cannot afford to take this threat for granted.