5 PH terror groups pledge support to IS

From The Standard (Dec 10): 5 PH terror groups pledge support to IS

AT least five Philippine-based terrorist groups has been categorized as sleeper cells and among the 40 international groups believed to have pledged support to the Islamic State, the London-based Mail Online said in a dispatch Tuesday.

“From militia lurking in the jungles of the Philippines to sleeper cells training in the deserts of Libya, a vast array of groups are now claiming to be operating alongside the jihadis’ notorious black and white banner,” the Mail Online said.

The five groups that pledged support to ISIS were the Ansar Khilaf Philippines, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, Ma’rakat Al Ansar, Ansar Khilafa and the Abu Sayyaf Group.

 

The BIFF, a splinter group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, first pledged support to ISIS in August 2014 and was followed by the ASG and other newly formed rebel factions.

The extent of the groups links to ISIS varies—some only offer support or symbolic association, others are thought to have sent fighters to the Middle East, while others operate as sleeper cells, the Mail Online said.

The Mail Online included the five Philippine groups in an infographic entitled “Rapid rise of the death cult: Graphic shows the terrifying spread of ISIS across the globe in just two years as terror groups across South East Asia and Africa queue up to swear allegiance.”

“The full scale of Islamic State’s influence can today be laid bare as it’s revealed dozens of terror groups worldwide have pledged their allegiance to the barbaric extremists,” the Mail Online said.

“It is clear the groups have little in common except their desire to establish their own kingdoms governed by a traditional interpretation of Sharia law. But they are united by one other common principle—they will do anything to realize their goals,” it added.

Thus ISIS has used child soldiers, suicide bombers, gang-land style warfare, kidnapping and extortion, the report said.

“Frighteningly, the vast majority of them have pledged their allegiance to ISIS either this year or in 2014, suggesting the group is enjoying a rapid growth of influence,” Mail Online said.

To date, the administration and the military have played down the ISIS threat on Philippine soil.

Armed Forces spokesman Col. Restituto Padilla said the inclusion of the Philippine groups in the Mail Online list was probably the result of the videos they posted online, which he dismissed as propaganda.

http://www.thestandard.com.ph/news/-main-stories/top-stories/194032/5-ph-terror-groups-pledge-support-to-is.html