The Islamic State has begun urging Australians to join the group's fight in the Philippines as an alternative to travelling to Syria, in a long-feared shift that would swell foreign fighter ranks on Australia's own doorstep.
In the latest propaganda video from the group, Australian Islamic State fighter "Abu Adam" also calls on Australians to carry out attacks at home using weapons such as nail guns and trucks.
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The Australian government is offering support to the Philippines as its military battles Islamist militants aligned with Islamic State. National Security correspondent David Wroe explains.
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Islamic State concerns closer to Australia
The Australian government is offering support to the Philippines as its military battles Islamist militants aligned with Islamic State. National Security correspondent David Wroe explains.
A top south-east Asia expert, Greg Fealy, has meanwhile likened the battle against the Islamic State for the Philippines city of Marawi to that of Iraq's Mosul, which has been recaptured only after a gruelling and bloody fight.
In the first Islamic State video in months featuring an Australian, Abu Adam al-Australi, thought to be Melbourne man Mounir Raad, exhorts followers from the group's crumbling capital in Syria to travel to the Philippines or, failing that, "kill them wherever you find them" at home.
"As for those of you who can't make it to this battle [in Syria] … in particular to the Mujahideen [holy warriors] in Australia, then you should go aid your brothers in the fight against the crusader government of the Philippines," he said.
He said the Australian government had "already pledged to help and assist" the Philippines government, and asked "where is your pledge to Allah, oh Muslim? Your zeal should be greater and actions much more decisive".
Raad has been fighting in Syria since 2014 and is related to extremists jailed over the 2005 plot to bomb the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Australia recently announced it would help the Philippines by flying P-3 Orion surveillance and intelligence flights over Marawi on the island on Mindanao. Several local Islamist groups have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.
US media reports said on Tuesday that the Pentagon was considering carrying out airstrikes to support Philippines troops.
Defence Minister Marise Payne told Fairfax Media that the RAAF was continuing the Orion support and "will continue to review its commitment in consultation with the government of the Philippines".
Security agencies have long been concerned that with the Islamic State losing territory in Syria and Iraq, would-be jihadists may seek to travel to the Philippines instead.
Justice Minister Michael Keenan told Fairfax Media last week that authorities hadn't yet seen Australians drawn to the Philippines but added that "the potential for them to entrench themselves there and then be a magnet for people either fleeing the Middle East or just within our own region to go to instead of the Middle East is a threat we are very, very alive to".
Professor Fealy, from the Australian National University, said on Tuesday the battle for Marawi was "the most significant, extreme Islamist event in south-east Asia since the 2002 Bali bombing".
"The purpose for launching this attack in Marawi was to secure territory in the name of ISIS and to stake a claim for Mindanao to become a … province of ISIS and this is a much sought-after status for pro-ISIS groups around the world," he said.
The scale of the violence was "extraordinary" – the death toll was approaching 1000, including 600 militants, and 300,000 had been evacuated.
"It's become the Mosul of south-east Asia," he said. "The ability of the jihadists to resist and take a heavy toll on battle-hardened Philippines soldiers has shocked everyone. It turns out the jihadists were very skilled at urban warfare, at putting together powerful IEDs, at sniping, regularly taking out Philippines troops, booby-traps.
"This is unlike anything seen before in south-east Asia."