No Filipino affected by terror attacks in Nigeria, Pakistan

The DFA added that no Filipinos were reported to be among the almost 300 dead and more than 600 still missing in the massive mudslides that struck Sierra Leone on Monday. (PNA photo)

MANILA — The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Thursday said there were no reports of any Filipino affected by the suicide bombings in Nigeria and Pakistan.

DFA Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano condemned the suicide bombings carried out by suspected Islamic extremists in these countries, as he called anew overseas Filipinos to heighten their vigilance in the wake of terrorist attacks abroad.

“The Philippines joins the international community in condemning the terrorist attacks in Nigeria and Pakistan that took many innocent lives,” he said in a statement.

“We stand in solidarity with the governments and peoples of Nigeria and Pakistan as they confront the same threat of violent extremism that we are now also faced with in Mindanao,” Cayetano said.

According to the DFA, a female suicide bomber detonated herself at a busy market in the city of Maidoguri in northeast Nigeria on Tuesday, killing 27 and wounding several others.

Two other suicide bombers attacked a nearby refugee camp wounding several more.

In Pakistan, a suicide bomber killed at least 15 people and wounded more than 40 others in an attack on a military convoy in the southwestern city of Quetta on Saturday. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the incident.

Around 3,850 Filipinos currently live in Nigeria, while there are estimated 1,500 Filipinos in Pakistan.

Meanwhile, the DFA added that no Filipinos were reported to be among the almost 300 dead and more than 600 still missing in the massive mudslides that struck Sierra Leone on Monday.

Ambassador Ho-Vicario said the Embassy had not received report that any of the 115 Filipinos in Sierra Leone were affected by the mudslides that engulfed houses in the Regency neighborhood of the capital. Heavy rains triggered the mudslides.

“We are closely monitoring the situation to make sure that all our kababayans in Sierra Leone are safe and accounted for,” said Philippine Ambassador to Abuja Shirley Ho-Vicario.