Fresh Militant Violence in Philippines Illustrates Continuing Jihadist Presence

Link to original story on Jamestown website

Armed members of Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) kidnapped and killed nine Christian farmers in the southern Philippines island of Mindanao on December 24 (Manila Bulletin, December 27, 2015). On the same day, also in Mindanao, BIFF militants attacked Pigcawayan town using a range of weapons including 40mm mortars (The Standard [Philippines], January 2). The military was able to repulse the attack, leaving six militants and one official dead. The militants simultaneously launched at least two other largely unsuccessful attacks in the villages of Shariff Aguak and Linantangan; the latter attack reportedly involved up to 50 militants (Ibid). The attacks underline Mindanao's status as a center of Islamist militant activity, despite many years of counter-insurgency work by the Philippines government in conjunction with the U.S.

The BIFF, which conducted the latest attacks, is a hardline splinter group of the Mindanao Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a more secular Muslim militant group. BIFF separated from MILF in 2008 after the latter reached an agreement with the government. The MILF and BIFF sporadically cooperate, however, as shown in the 'Mamasapano incident' in January 2015; the incident occurred in the form of a clash between members of these militant groups and the military, killing leading militant Zulkifli bin Hir as well as 44 members of the Philippines special forces (Rappler, February 3, 2015). Although the early 2015 Mamasapano clash disrupted government attempts to reach a political agreement with MILF in the hopes of ending longstanding separatist violence, the group has carried out few significant attacks in recent months (Inquirer, January 3). MILF has continued, however, to publicly push for the government to grant greater autonomy to the predominantly Muslim Bangsamoro region of western Mindanao, arguing that this is necessary to undercut popular support for more hardline separatist and Islamist groups (Philippines Star, December 24, 2015). The latest BIFF attacks show that the Islamist groups remains active and willing to target both civilians and troops in Mindanao province.

Unrelated violence in the Philippines involving al-Qaeda-affiliated Abu Sayyaf, which follows a global jihadist agenda unlike the relatively parochial BIFF and MILF, has also occurred during the last month. In particular, government troops launched raids against Abu Sayyaf in the isolated Sulu region, the group's main stronghold, located to the south of Mindanao. Following five days of fighting, the government said that it had killed 26 Abu Sayyaf militants, mainly in and around Al Barka town, with three soldiers also reported to have been killed (Inquirer, December 20, 2015). If true, these losses are a significant setback for the group, which is believed to have only several hundred active fighters. Among those reportedly killed was a Malaysian bomb-maker by the name of Mohammed Najib, also known as Abu Anas, alleged to be one of the group's key technical experts (The Star [Malaysia], December 17, 2015). According to Malaysian security sources cited by local media, 37-year-old Najib had a degree in electrical engineering from University of Malaya (UM) and was believed to have joined Abu Sayyaf in 2014. Najib has, however, more recently sworn his allegiance to the Islamic State, and reportedly has helped Malaysians travel to the Middle East to join the group (Ibid).

On January 4, soldiers disrupted what was potentially an Abu Sayyaf attempt to kidnap 26 locals in Ungkaya Baku, Basilan, where the organization has a known presence. The soldiers intercepted a bus full of passengers that gunmen had earlier commandeered at gunpoint (Philippines Star, January 4). Later that day, government forces claimed to have arrested a wanted militant known as Junni Jamala in Patikul town, Sulu (Philippines Star, January 4). The authorities said that the individual was believed to have been involved in an Abu Sayyaf unit specializing in assassinations. The government's decision to take the fight to Abu Sayyaf on their "home turf" may indicate an increased tempo of counter-insurgency operations in the coming year.