Second phase of assistance to the Philippines: Hishammuddin

KULAI: Malaysia will be sending another phase of assistance to the Philippines Armed Forces in efforts to jointly combat Daesh militants.
Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said Malaysia had earlier delivered humanitarian aid comprising food and medical supplies via an A400m aircraft.
Having just returned from a visit to three West Asian countries, he said the second phase of assistance would comprise a medical team from the Malaysian Armed Forces, equipment for clean water and an MAF religious corps (Kagat) team, Bernama reported.
"They (Philippines) said they needed water and medicine; at the same time, we will dispatch a Kagat team so that the refugees from Marawi would not be in a desperate and difficult situation.
"We worry that they (refugees) might be easily influenced by the militant group so we have to win their hearts and minds by getting close to them," he said after launching the Kulai Umno division delegates conference at Dewan Raya Bandar Putra here today.
Hishammuddin, who is also Special Functions Minister, said the measures were taken to prevent the situation in Marawi from spreading to Malaysia's borders.
Hundreds of militants fighting under the Islamic State (IS) flag had seized parts of Marawi on the Mindanao Island about two months ago.
This led to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declaring martial law across Mindanao to put an end to what he claimed was a rebellion aimed at establishing an IS province in the region.
The Philippine government even launched air and ground strikes against the militants, forcing some 200,000 civilians to flee the area.
Meanwhile, Hishammuddin said the announcement by the militant group on establishing an Islamic territory consisting of Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, and Japan must not be taken lightly.
Hence, he said his visit to Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia was to facilitate sharing of information particularly on the countries' success in handling Daesh threat.
"My visit revolved around defence and security issues and one matter that I particularly emphasised was the Daesh threat. So we learn and make sure that what they went through would not happen to us here," he said.