UPDATED: Gunshots, Explosions Ring Out at Manila Resort in Possible Terror Attack

Reports of gunfire and explosions are pouring in from the Resorts World Casino in the Philippine capital of Manila in what could be a terrorist attack. “Resorts World Manila is currently on lockdown following reports of gunfire from unidentified men,” the resort shared via Twitter.

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Witnesses claim suspects with long guns wearing black hoods stormed the hotel at roughly 12:30 a.m. and initial reports claim 25 people have been injured in the incident ISIS has already claimed responsibility for.

CBS News reported:

The incident happened while, in the southern part of the country, Philippine troops are struggling to end a bloody siege by hundreds of extremists aligned with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told a news conference earlier in Manila that about 500 militants, including foreign fighters, joined the siege of Marawi, a mosque-studded city that is the heartland of the Islamic faith in the southern Philippines.

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We will keep you posted as more information becomes available.

UPDATE:

At 4:04 PM ET, Thu June 1, 2017, AP News reported:

Philippine police have not given details about the incident but have begun cordoning off the area near the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

“I heard many, many gunshots,” Julio Silva, a witness who managed to dash out of the mall complex, told DZMM radio network.

The incident is unfolding amid a 10-day deadly siege by Muslim militants aligned to the Islamic State group in the southern city of Marawi. The attack has sparked fears that the militants may attack elsewhere to divert the focus of thousands of troops trying to quell the siege.

The SITE Intelligence Group, a U.S. terrorism monitor, said an Islamic State-linked Filipino operative who provides daily updates on the ongoing clashes in Marawi claimed that “lone wolf soldiers” of the Islamic State group is responsible for the attack at Resorts World Manila.

An English message by the operative was distributed across several pro-IS Telegram chat groups, SITE said. According to SITE, he wrote: “The lone wolf soldiers of Khilafah attack the heart of Kufar the city of Manila in Resort World.”

A Filipino operative for the Islamic State group, in a quick communique, immediately took responsibility for the attack. But police cast doubt on any such links.

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At 5:06 PM ET, Thu June 1, 2017, CNN reported:

A shooting at a sprawling Manila resort that caused hundreds of people to stampede was an attempt by a lone thief to rob gamblers and not a terrorist attack, Philippines National Police Chief Ronald Dela Rosa said Friday.

Around 4 a.m. Friday, Resorts Chief Operating Officer Stephen Reilly told reporters police were looking inside the buildings for one suspect.

Jay Dones, a witness on the scene, said the incident started around midnight Thursday (noon ET) and that some employees said gunman fired shots in the air.
Dones said employees told him they saw two suspects wearing black and carrying long firearms.
“One of them was carrying a bottle,” Dones said. “One of the employees told me that the suspect began pouring the contents of the bottle on one of the tables and lit it on fire.”

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