As part of its “And the Best Outcome is for the Righteous” series, the Islamic State has released videos of jihadists from the Caucasus and the Philippines renewing their allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for two suicide bombings at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Jolo, Sulu earlier today.
The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at a military checkpoint in the Philippines earlier today. The bomber was identified as a foreign fighter known as Abu Kathir al-Maghrebi.
The US government has designated Myrna Mabanza, an Islamic State facilitator based in the Philippines, as a terrorist. The Treasury Department identifies Mabanza as a woman in her mid-20s who has worked with some of the Islamic State’s most senior personnel in Southeast Asia and has also served as an “intermediary” to jihadists in Syria.
As the siege continues into its second day, thousands of civilians have been forced to flee and martial law has been declared inside Marawi city.
The video is the culmination of the Islamic State’s build up of its propaganda and activity in the region.
The infographic gives information on how many Filipino troops have been killed in Islamic State operations and how many “fighting battalions” it has in the country.
While jihadist groups in the Philippines were thought to have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State since late 2014, a video released last month by Islamic State supporters in the country confirmed these speculations. In a video released a few days ago by an Islamic State media outlet, the jihadist group officially recognized the pledges.
The video shows a rudimentary training camp in a forested area somewhere in the Philippines. It is unclear which group is shown training, but the video makes clear of its support to the Islamic State.
After two years of captivity by Abu Sayyaf militants, Swiss bird watcher Lorenzo Vinceguerra escaped while Philippine troops fired rounds into the Abu Sayyaf camp in Patikul on Sulu. During the clash, Vinceguerra killed one of his captors, militant subcommander Juhurim Hussien, and was wounded by militant gunfire. In pursuit, Philippine troops later killed five […]
Government soldiers clashed with Abu Sayyaf militants in the mountains on Sulu during a raid on a camp in Talipao where some 300 militants were reportedly based. At least 14 Abu Sayyaf fighters and five soldiers were killed, and 26 soldiers were wounded in the hours-long gun battle. A group of 50 Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom […]
President Aquino urged the armed forces to crush the extremist group Abu Sayyaf and bring its members to justice; he estimated that the group consists of 200 members and at least 200 additional followers. Abu Sayyaf fighters ambushed Philippine troops who were guarding a road project yesterday in Basilan, killing six of them and reportedly […]
President Aquino said the Philippines will refuse “impossible or unclear” UN missions, after the UN refused Philippine peacekeeping troops’ requests for more weapons to fight off al Qaeda militants in the Golan area along the Syrian border and ordered the Philippine troops to surrender to secure the release of kidnapped Fijian peacekeepers. Military and intelligence […]
Immigration authorities said they plan to send extremist cleric Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips back to Canada; Philips, who is banned from United States, Britain, Australia, Kenya, and Bangladesh, was detained by authorities in Davao a few days ago as he presented a security threat. Intelligence officials said they are monitoring the movement of Philippine jihadists […]
The US Embassy warned Americans to avoid travel to Sulu and the Mindanao archipelago due to the activities of al Qaeda-linked groups such as Abu Sayyaf. Reports have emerged that elements of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and the Abu Sayyaf, including wanted leader Isnilon Hapilon, have sworn allegiance to the Islamic State. Wanted Abu […]
Security forces arrested two Abu Sayyaf militants, including alleged sub-leader Nur Hassan a.k.a. Jemhar Halillula Ali, during raids in Zamboanga city. A public school supervisor who was kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf in January was released after payment of a ransom.
Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) militants conducted simultaneous attacks against security forces in Datu Piang in Maguindanao. Authorities looked into reports that a German couple kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf may be captive on a southern island. Captured Abu Sayyaf commander Khair Mundos has told authorities that he met last year in Maguindanao with Marwan a.k.a. […]
A group of Abu Sayyaf fighters led by Idang Susukan and Sibih Pisih ambushed two buses in Talipao in Sulu that were carrying 50 people celebrating Eid al-Fitr, killing at least 16, most of them women. The Western Mindanao counterterrorism force said the 10 policemen escorting the civilians were probably the real targets of the […]
Militants from the Bangsamo Islamic Liberation Front attacked security forces in two towns in Maguindanao province yesterday, killing one soldier and wounding two others; 17 militants were killed in the clash, including a close aide to BIFF leader Ameril Ombra Kato. The BIFF disputed the army’s report. Army operations are continuing in the area.
Australian extremist cleric Musa Cerantonio was arrested in Cebu with a female companion, several days after he had boasted that he had arrived in Syria to support the Islamic State. The Philippines military said it is checking to see if the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters is receiving financial support from the al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah.
Musa Cerantonio claimed he arrived in Syria on July 3, but he was recently arrested in Cebu.
Zulkifli bin Hir, a most-wanted terrorist linked to Jemaah Islamiyah, Abu Sayyaf, and the KMM who was reported killed in 2012, is operating in the southern Philippines.
Abdul Basit Usman was rumored to have been killed in a US drone strike in North Waziristan, Pakistan in 2010. He has since been spotted in the Philippines.
Abdel Basit Usman, a bombmaker and wanted member of the Philippines-based, al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf Group, was recently spotted during a raid on a Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters camp on Mindanao; Philippines press reports had claimed he was killed in a drone strike in Pakistan in January 2010. Basit is said to be building bombs […]
During a daylong battle in Basilan that began as an attempt to capture Abu Sayyaf commander Puruji Indama, three Islamist rebels and two soldiers were killed, and 29 soldiers were wounded. Abu Sayyaf is also suspected in the kidnapping of two people in Malaysia on April 2. Security forces killed two members of an Abu […]
The government has signed a peace agreement with a Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group, giving greater autonomy to Muslim areas of Mindanao, to be called Bangsamoro, in exchange for the MILF’s surrender of its weapons. The accord, reached after the loss of 120,000 lives in 40 years of conflict, and […]
Government troops killed 17 Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters in an offensive in Mindanao against the group, which has been trying to undermine the peace deal between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. The clash started yesterday when authorities attempted to arrest 25 BIFF members suspected of kidnapping and murder.
The government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front signed the final part of the Annex on Normalization, a 2012 peace plan, setting the stage for an agreement that allows the rebels to establish an autonomous state of Bangsamoro on the island of Mindanao in exchange for decommissioning their weapons. Jun Jalal Akilan, a.k.a. Temeng, an […]
The government signed a peace deal with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, under which the group gives up its goal of an independent state in exchange for power and wealth-sharing in a new autonomous region. Two days earlier, MILF rebels attacked a police station in Marawi City, taking the police chief hostage, killing a civilian, […]
Defense Secretary Gazmin claimed victory over the rebels in Zamboanga, but acknowledged that Habier Malik, the commander of the Moro National Liberation Front group that stormed the Mindanao port city three weeks ago, is still unaccounted for. The military said 18 soldiers, five police, and 12 civilians had been killed. Officials reported 375 rebels as […]