Terror on the doorstep: Asian militants unite under Islamic State banner

From The Australian (Jan 11): Terror on the doorstep: Asian militants unite under Islamic State banner



Mindanao militants brandish the Islamic State flag.

Australia is facing fresh terror threats on its doorstep after Islamic State warned it had created a caliphate in Mindanao in the southern Philippines.

In exclusive video footage obtained by The Australian, the merger of four militant battalions and their machine gun-toting leaders are seen pledging allegiance to the self-proclaimed caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, indicating Islamic State ambitions.

The video, showing militants carrying Islamic State flags, was posted on the internet on Friday but immediately removed.

It was filmed at a training camp in Basilan, Mindanao, an autonomous Muslim region bordering Malaysia.

Counter-terror expert and head of the Singapore-based International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research, Rohan Gunaratna, yesterday warned the new wilayat, or province, posed major security concerns for Australia and Southeast Asia. “The recruits who cannot go to Syria because of travel restrictions will train in The Philippines and attack Australia and coalition interests on their return,” Dr Gunaratna said, adding the merger would present an unprecedented challenge to the government in Manila. “As the ‘soldiers of the caliphate’ in The Philippines, they will mount operations that will ­increasingly mirror IS’s core in Syria and Iraq.”

Islamic State has chosen the chief of the Abu Sayyaf Group in Basilan, Isnilon Hapilon, as The Philippines leader.

Referring to him as Sheikh Mujahid Abu Abdullah Al-Filipini, Islamic State’s official newsletter, Al-Naba, reported on the amalgamation of the battalions of “mujahideen”.

The video, led by Hapilon, shows 41 mostly armed Filipinos and Malaysians, mainly from the Abu Sayyaf Group, which ­provides weapons in Indonesian terrorists, at the oath-taking ceremony. The four battalions had previously pledged to serve Islamic State, but individually.

The Ansar Al-Shariah battalion was represented by high-ranking Malaysian Abu Anas Al-Muhajir, aka Mohammad Bin Najib Bin Hussein, who presides over laws and other jurisprudence matters.

One of the five Malaysians who has joined the Abu Sayyaf Group, his face was not covered in the video. “Considering the importance given to a Malaysian by Isnilon Hapilon, Malaysians are likely to join IS Mindanao, ’’ Dr Gunaratna said.

He said Islamic State’s choice of a highly experienced, notorious leader in The Philippines presented a long-term regional threat.

Australian counter-terrorist expert Greg Barton yesterday said he was not surprised about the Islamic State development in The Philippines, only that it had taken so long to bubble to the surface. “I think we’re heading this year for attempts of large mass casualty incidents in Southeast Asia,” Professor Barton said.

It has long been the concern that military assault weapons could be moved easily around the region where security and patrols were minimal. “There will be this desire to launch IS-inspired attacks at home (Southeast Asia) — and certainly in Indonesia,’’ Professor Barton said, adding it did not bode well for Australia.

“I think we are back in the position we were in October 2002 where (attacks) … are much more likely to affect Australians in Southeast Asia than in Australia because of the number of jihadi groups and suicide attacks and numerous soft targets. It’s pretty easy in Indonesia.”

Despite propaganda being a hallmark of Islamic State, he said the terrorist group could not afford to be underestimated. “They have been very effective — more effective than any other terrorist group in history — at recruiting,” he said. “If IS invests heavily in Mindanao troubles, not only will that see more and more people swinging over to a very powerful brand but it may also lead to more people travelling to the Middle East.”

Professor Barton said there was a shift in Islamic State strategy where it recognised it was in for a long, hard struggle in Iraq and Syria and was seeking alternative locations “not necessarily as parallel caliphates but in the way of hedging their bets and keeping themselves relevant”.

Following the undated ceremony captured on the video, Islamic State stated: “The unification of the Mujahideen under one leadership and banner of the Caliphate is seen as a huge threat to the tyrants of The Philippines and is an important step in order to liberate areas in Southeast Asia in general. It has a huge significance in the spreading of tawhid (monotheism) in the region, fighting the Christians, Buddhists and other polytheists as well as establishing the religion of Allah in this part of the world.”

Dr Gunaratna warned beheadings, mass fatalities and casualty attacks could be expected.

The creation of terrorist training camps would lure not only Southeast Asians but other nationalities. In recent developments, ethnic Uighurs from China who could not travel to Syria to join al-Nusra Front or Islamic State travelled to Indonesia. Last month 13 militants were arrested on the island of Java, including one Muslim Uighur with a suicide-bomb vest.,Four were arrested in 2014. Australians seeking to join the jihadist cause were likely to use Mindanao as a training ground, Dr Gunaratna said. “Militants who train in the new IS province will determine the threat to their home countries,’’ he said. But Malaysia remained the most fertile recruitment ground for IS.

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