posted August 27, 2019 at 12:40 am by Ernesto M. Hilario
"It isn't unreasonable to conclude that peace in Mindanao will remain as elusive as ever, unless the jihadist threat is addressed."
It may be peaceful and quiet in our southern shores for now after decades of violence and bloodshed since the 1970s, but it could well be the calm before the storm.
That’s because the national government and the Armed Forces of the Philippines still face a big challenge in fighting homegrown terrorism.
The terrorist groups identified with the Islamic State that pose a distinct and grave threat to national security include a faction of the Abu Sayyaf Group that gained notoriety since the late 1990s by kidnapping foreign tourists and keeping them captive only until hefty ransom was paid. The days when the Abu Sayyaf could undertake kidnapping for ransom both inland and in the high seas, as well as deadly bombings with impunity, may be over for now, but they remain a serious threat so the military needs to hunt them down and bring them to justice.
The Maute Group that laid siege on Marawi City for five months in 2017 may have been largely decimated as a result of their defeat in the hands of the AFP two years ago. But we should not discount the possibility that remnants of this group could be reorganizing their forces, linking up with like-minded groups and beefing up their arsenal as we speak in preparation for another attack.
The Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) is composed of an estimated 3,000 fighters who broke away from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The latter, which also broke away from the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in the late 1970s, waged war against the government for nearly two decades but agreed to peace talks with the government.
Besides these, there are other small groups believed to have sworn allegiance to the Islamic State and its goal of establishing a Southeast Asian caliphate based in Mindanao.
What’s really disturbing about the Marawi siege in 2017 was the reported presence of foreign terrorists among the Maute group as confirmed by the military. Among those from the terrorist group killed were Malaysians, Singaporeans, and Indonesians who had been aiding locals in bomb-making. The AFP confirmed that dozens of foreign jihadis fought alongside the Maute Group in Marawi. Of the estimated 400-500 terrorists who attacked the Muslim city, as many as 40 had recently come from overseas. They included Indonesians, Malaysians, at least one Pakistani, a Saudi, a Chechen, a Yemeni, an Indian, a Moroccan and another man with a Turkish passport.
Why the influx of foreign jihadists to Mindanao? According to Rohan Gunaratna, a security expert at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, because the Islamic state has been losing territory in Iraq and Syria, jihadists are turning their attention to Muslim Mindanao as a possible wilayat or province of IS in Southeast Asia.
Another disturbing development is the recent case of suicide bombing by a Filipino in Mindanao. This is a first as previous incidents involved only foreigners. This underscores the need for the military and the police to step up target hardening and to encourage soft targets such as shopping malls to be aware of security threats and draw up the corresponding security plans.
The revelation that foreign jihadists have been operating in southern Philippines alongside locals confirms fears that indeed, the Islamic State has made inroads in Muslim Mindanao. We’ve known in the past that some foreigners had managed to slip into the country and join rebel groups as trainers in bomb-making and other covert activities. But the actual participation of foreigners in combat against government troops shows that ISIS may have fielded more of their savage followers to southern Philippines, complicating what is already a volatile situation.
President Duterte had already warned as early as 2017 that IS would be a big headache for the Philippine government if they are able to unite the various terror groups in Mindanao with their vision of a caliphate in southern Philippines. The Marawi siege appears to have been part of a plot to occupy territory that they can later convert or consolidate into an IS province. That unwelcome possibility makes it necessary for the government to move decisively and dismantle the jihadist apparatus in the country with all the resources at its command. It is imperative for the military to relentlessly pursue terrorist groups so that they can be brought to justice for heinous crimes. Given all this, it isn’t unreasonable to conclude that peace in Mindanao will remain as elusive as ever, unless the jihadist threat is addressed with a combination of military and political measures, as well as socio-economic initiatives
ernhil@yahoo.com
http://manilastandard.net/opinion/columns/about-town-by-ernesto-m-hilario.html
That’s because the national government and the Armed Forces of the Philippines still face a big challenge in fighting homegrown terrorism.
The terrorist groups identified with the Islamic State that pose a distinct and grave threat to national security include a faction of the Abu Sayyaf Group that gained notoriety since the late 1990s by kidnapping foreign tourists and keeping them captive only until hefty ransom was paid. The days when the Abu Sayyaf could undertake kidnapping for ransom both inland and in the high seas, as well as deadly bombings with impunity, may be over for now, but they remain a serious threat so the military needs to hunt them down and bring them to justice.
The Maute Group that laid siege on Marawi City for five months in 2017 may have been largely decimated as a result of their defeat in the hands of the AFP two years ago. But we should not discount the possibility that remnants of this group could be reorganizing their forces, linking up with like-minded groups and beefing up their arsenal as we speak in preparation for another attack.
The Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) is composed of an estimated 3,000 fighters who broke away from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The latter, which also broke away from the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in the late 1970s, waged war against the government for nearly two decades but agreed to peace talks with the government.
Besides these, there are other small groups believed to have sworn allegiance to the Islamic State and its goal of establishing a Southeast Asian caliphate based in Mindanao.
What’s really disturbing about the Marawi siege in 2017 was the reported presence of foreign terrorists among the Maute group as confirmed by the military. Among those from the terrorist group killed were Malaysians, Singaporeans, and Indonesians who had been aiding locals in bomb-making. The AFP confirmed that dozens of foreign jihadis fought alongside the Maute Group in Marawi. Of the estimated 400-500 terrorists who attacked the Muslim city, as many as 40 had recently come from overseas. They included Indonesians, Malaysians, at least one Pakistani, a Saudi, a Chechen, a Yemeni, an Indian, a Moroccan and another man with a Turkish passport.
Why the influx of foreign jihadists to Mindanao? According to Rohan Gunaratna, a security expert at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, because the Islamic state has been losing territory in Iraq and Syria, jihadists are turning their attention to Muslim Mindanao as a possible wilayat or province of IS in Southeast Asia.
Another disturbing development is the recent case of suicide bombing by a Filipino in Mindanao. This is a first as previous incidents involved only foreigners. This underscores the need for the military and the police to step up target hardening and to encourage soft targets such as shopping malls to be aware of security threats and draw up the corresponding security plans.
The revelation that foreign jihadists have been operating in southern Philippines alongside locals confirms fears that indeed, the Islamic State has made inroads in Muslim Mindanao. We’ve known in the past that some foreigners had managed to slip into the country and join rebel groups as trainers in bomb-making and other covert activities. But the actual participation of foreigners in combat against government troops shows that ISIS may have fielded more of their savage followers to southern Philippines, complicating what is already a volatile situation.
President Duterte had already warned as early as 2017 that IS would be a big headache for the Philippine government if they are able to unite the various terror groups in Mindanao with their vision of a caliphate in southern Philippines. The Marawi siege appears to have been part of a plot to occupy territory that they can later convert or consolidate into an IS province. That unwelcome possibility makes it necessary for the government to move decisively and dismantle the jihadist apparatus in the country with all the resources at its command. It is imperative for the military to relentlessly pursue terrorist groups so that they can be brought to justice for heinous crimes. Given all this, it isn’t unreasonable to conclude that peace in Mindanao will remain as elusive as ever, unless the jihadist threat is addressed with a combination of military and political measures, as well as socio-economic initiatives
ernhil@yahoo.com
http://manilastandard.net/opinion/columns/about-town-by-ernesto-m-hilario.html
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