ALAM NA | 5 threat groups lean toward jihadist Islamic State, says military officer

From InterAksyon (Oct 2): ALAM NA | 5 threat groups lean toward jihadist Islamic State, says military officer



Brigadier General Jose Kakilala at the EU-sponsored forum on radicalism in the Philippines, 2 October 2014, Edsa Shangri-La Hotel. JAIME SINAPIT/InterAksyon.com

A military officer on Thursday identified five groups as having obvious leanings for the jihadist Islamic State (IS) group, a “network of death” rampaging in some territories in war-torn Syria and Iraq.

Brigadier General Joselito Kakilala, chief of the military’s Office for Strategic Studies and Strategy Management (OSSM), identified these groups as:

• Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) aims to establish an independent Islamic State through radical ideology and violent operational method. Composed of a handful of Muslim extremists, ASG is involved in high-profile kidnap-for-ransom cases. Indonesian-based Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) has trained ASG members in bomb-making and launching bombing operations.
• Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) is a terrorist network established in several countries in Southeast Asia;
• Rajah Solaiman Movement (RSM) envisions the “reconversion” of the entire Philippines to Islam and is responsible for the 2004 ferry attack and the 2005 valentine’s Day bombing;
• Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) is the armed wing of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement (BIFM), a faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) which has an ongoing peace process with the government.
• Khilafa Islamiyah Mindanao’s (KIM) existence is still being validated. “Although KIM’s existence still has to be validated, it could be a factor of concern if it can forge a direct tie with ISIS and emerge as an umbrella organization for other existing and emerging jihadist groups that embrace the idea of creating an Islamic State in the southern Philippines same as what the Jemaah Islamiyah envisions,” Kakilala said. According to military intelligence records, KIM first emerged in 2012 and was first reported by Kakilala himself in October that year.

These groups are closely being monitored, the general said at a European Union-sponsored forum on “Current Dynamics of Radicalism” at EDSA Shangri-La Hotel in Mandaluyong City.

“The AFP is determined to quell the so-called ‘peace spoilers’ that are either nationalists or fundamentalist in orientation,” Kakilala said.

According to the military, ASG, JI, and BIFF have already sworn support and allegiance to the radicalism of the IS group as shown in some video footages uploaded in the Internet.

The government security authorities are monitoring reports of ISIS influence in some areas in Mindanao.

‘Rooted in Arab Spring’

“This group is rooted in the Middle East during the Arab uprising that swept Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Algeria, and Syria,” the general said.

Kakilala said the current security challenge in the country has once again seized the spotlight due to the emergence of the IS.

Different local and international groups, including some representatives from the government security agencies, participated in the EU-sponsored forum at the EDSA Shangri-la Hotel in Mandaluyong City.

Ambassador Guy Ledoux, head of European Union Delegation to the Philippines, said tackling Islamic radicalism in the Philippine context is necessary to help prevent the spread of terrorism especially in Mindanao where there exist terror groups, citing the Abu Sayyaf Group.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/96555/alam-na--5-threat-groups-lean-toward-jihadist-islamic-state-says-military-officer