“The Islamic State has voiced a desire to create an Islamic caliphate in the Philippines or the wider Southeast Asian region.”
The Abu Sayyaf terrorist group that has pledged allegiance to ISIS in the Philippines released a video featuring Catholic priest Suganob pleading for Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte to halt the government’s offensive against the terrorist group. The government launched their offensive to take control of Marawi City on the island of Mindanao.
Abu Sayyaf burned a Catholic church, the city jail, and two schools, as well as occupied the main streets and two bridges leading to Marawi. Rev. Suganob said the terrorist group had taken him and around 240 parishioners and held them as human shields. He stated in the video that all the terrorists wanted was for the government to stop the offensive.
President Duterte declared martial law in the region due to the repeated attacks and taking of hostages by the ISIS-aligned group. Since the launch of the government offensive, government troops have regained control of 70% of the city. As of Tuesday, the reported death toll was approximately 100. The casualties included 61 terrorists and 11 soldiers; the rest were, unfortunately, civilians caught up in the fighting.
Isnilon Hapilon, a commander in the Abu Sayyaf organization, attacked the city last week and took the priest and his parishioners captive. Rev. Suganob said in the video that the ISIS-backed group was showing they could strike at will and that ISIS had a growing presence in the Philippines. The black flags of ISIS were seen in the background of the video.
Last year, a video featuring Hapilon and two other group leaders recorded their pledge of allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State. The other leaders include a figure named Abu Anas al-Muhajir, who was identified as the emir (leader) of Katibat Ansar al-Sharia, and Abu Harith al-Filipini, a delegate sent by the leader of Katibat Marakah al-Ansar.
After the video was aired, the Islamic State officially recognized the pledges of allegiance from the jihadist groups based in the Philippines. The Islamic State has voiced a desire to create an Islamic caliphate in the Philippines or the wider Southeast Asian region.
Isnilon Hapilon is a US-designated terrorist and leads the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG). Traditionally, ASG has had ties to al-Qaeda, but in June 2014, a master ASG bomb maker who was thought to have been killed in a drone strike in North Waziristan, Pakistan, turned up in the Philippines. The operative, Abdul Basit Usman, was wanted by the US for his involvement in multiple bombings in the Philippines.
ASG was funded and financed by Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, one of Osama bin Laden’s brothers-in-law, according to Khaddafy Janjalani, the leader of Abu Sayyaf, before he was killed in 2006. Khalifa, an al-Qaeda financier and facilitator, was killed by US special operations forces in Madagascar in 2006.
Abu Sayyaf has been blamed for bombings, attacks against government troops, and kidnappings in the Philippines. They are known for beheading hostages when ransom is not paid.
Originally, Abu Sayyaf concentrated mainly on local villagers. In 2001, Abu Sayyaf beheaded two school children and nine villagers believed to be Christians, but in June of that year, they took a large step on the world scene with the beheading of an American citizen they had kidnapped at a resort. In 2002, they beheaded two Jehovah’s Witnesses deemed “infidels.” In 2007, the terrorist group beheaded 23 Filipino Marines.
Since the 2007 incident, Abu Sayyaf has beheaded at least 27 other hostages, mainly foreign visitors to the region. The US State Department has a longstanding warning to US citizens regarding travel to the region.
To read more about Abu Sayyaf, please see the OpsLens article from earlier this month titled The Expanding Tentacles of ISIS: Abu Sayyaf.
