Filipino IS Suspect Targeted NYC for Attacks; Philippines a "Breeding Ground for Terrorists"

A Filipino terror suspect in a thwarted jihadi plot targeting New York City had boasted that his country was "a breeding ground for terrorists," the Japan Times website reports today (October 10, 2017).


Russell Salic, 37, has been charged with a plan to carry out the attacks in the name of the Islamic State (IS) group in 2016, according to the U.S. Justice Department.


Multiple locations -- including New York's subway, Times Square, and some concert venues -- were identified as targets in the plot.


According to a Justice Department statement, Salic sent messages to others involved in the plot in which he described terror laws in the Philippines as "not strict" compared to Western countries. "Terrorists from all over the world usually come here [the Philippines] as a breeding ground for terrorists..." he said.