Military Periscope :: Abu Sayyaf Group

Abu Sayyaf Group

Group Name:

Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), "Bearer of the Sword." Also known as al-Harakatul Isalamiya.

Location/Area of Operation:

The ASG primarily operates in the southern Philippines, particularly on Jolo island in Sulu province. It was founded on Sulu's Basilan island, but military pressure later forced a move to Jolo. Occasional operations are carried out in Manila, where some sleeper cells may be located. The group expanded its operations to Malaysia in late 2000 when it abducted foreigners from two different resorts in that country.

Stated Purpose:

The ASG seeks to establish an independent Islamic state on Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago, as well as parts of southern Thailand and the island of Borneo, areas that have a majority Muslim population. However, the Abu Sayyaf Group often appears to be motivated more by financial considerations than ideological or theological ones.

Strength:

The ASG is believed to have 300-400 members, though others, motivated by ideology or hostage ransom payments, may support the group. Abu Sayyaf's strength has been substantially reduced by successful Philippine military operations. Philippine officials estimate that ASG had around 1,000 members in 2001.

External Aid and Links:

The ASG has received past financial and training support from Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaida network. Bin Laden's brother-in-law, Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, is believed to have made several visits to Zamboanga City, an Islamic hotbed in Mindanao. Khalifa is thought to have funneled money to the rebels through Islamic charities and a university in the city.

Many ASG members have clan and family ties to Moro National Liberation Front members in Sulu, which helps foster cooperation. The ASG also has links to Jemaah Islamiya and elements of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Activities:

The ASG engages in bombings, assassinations, kidnappings and extortion to promote and implement an Islamic state in western Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago, areas in the southern Philippines heavily populated by Muslims. Hundreds of Philippine soldiers have been killed in operations against Abu Sayyaf.

Overview:

Abu Sayyaf is the smallest and most radical of the Islamic separatist groups operating in the southern Philippines.

Some ASG members studied or worked in the Middle East and developed ties to the mujahedin while fighting and training in Afghanistan.

In 1991, the group split from the Moro National Liberation Front -- the largest remaining Philippine Islamic separatist group. It was then under the leadership of Abdurajik Abubakar Janjalani, who was killed in a clash with Philippine police in December 1998. Janjalani's death, combined with diminishing Al-Qaida support in the second half of the decade, helped transform it from a strictly ideological group to something more akin to a violent criminal gang.

The United States trained Philippine troops and carried out joint anti-terrorism operations with the Philippine military in 2001 and thereafter. This helped the Philippine military reduce the ASG from an estimated 800 fighters in 2001 to around 450 in 2002, driving the group from the Zamboanga peninsula to Sulu province.

Khadafi Janjalani, the elder Janjalani's son and successor as leader, was killed in a Philippine military operation in September 2006. Janjalani was one of six senior ASG members with bounties on their heads killed by the Philippine armed forces between August 2006 and April 2007. Others included Ismin Sahiron, Jundam Jamalul, Borhan Mundus and Jainal Antel Sali.

The elimination of those leaders left septuagenarian Radulan Sahiron, Isnilon Hapilon and new leader Yasser Igasan as the most-wanted ASG members.

The group is believed to be cooperating more closely with a faction of the Moro National Liberation Front on Jolo island. The government's peace agreement with the MNLF places those camps off-limits to the military. ASG rebels thus gain a measure of safety when hiding among the MNLF. However, the military's success against ASG in 2006-2008 is believed to have caused its morale to wane and some money sources to dry up, limiting the effectiveness of recruiting and operations.

Many members of ASG remain at large, but the group appears to have lost its bearings as a result of the killing or capturing of many ASG leaders. Though the frequency and severity of attacks has waned, the group remains a dangerous element in several regions of the Philippines. According to observers, ASG will continue to be a threat until the Philippine government institutes a comprehensive anti-terrorism program with a sustained military effort.

Group Chronology:

1991

The ASG was founded following a split with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

That year also marked the group’s first major terrorist attack, which occurred when it killed two foreigners with grenades.

1992

Group members bombed a floating bookstore in the southern city of Zamboanga, injuring several civilians. Similar attacks took place at the Zamboanga airport and at several nearby Catholic churches.

1993

Seven people were killed when rebels bombed a church in Davao City.

The group began its kidnapping activities, abducting an American named Charles Walton, a researcher at the Summer Institute of Linguistics. Walton was released 23 days later.

1994

ASG was blamed for the bombing of a Philippine airliner; one person was killed and 10 were injured.

1995

ASG rebels attacked the largely Christian town of Ipil in Mindanao. The ASG burned down the town and killed 53 civilians and soldiers.

1997

ASG kidnapped a German businessman. He was released three months later.

1998

Kidnappings of foreigners continued, with victims from Hong Kong, Malaysia and Taiwan.

December: Group founder Abduragak Abubakar Janjalani died following a shootout with police in the village of Lamitan on Basilan island.

1999

ASG rebels threw grenades into a crowd of civilians in Jolo, killing 10 and injuring 75.

2000

March: There were 53 hostages, including 22 children, taken from two schools in Balisan. Twenty were later released in exchange for food and medicine.

April 23: Twenty-one hostages were taken from a diving resort on Sipadan island in Malaysia, including four U.S. citizens.

August: U.S. citizen Jeffrey Schilling was kidnapped while visiting an ASG stronghold.

September: Three people were taken hostage at Pandana island.

Sept. 16: A major government offensive was launched with thousands of government troops, artillery and aircraft.

2001

April: Government forces rescued hostage Jeffrey Schilling following a 45-minute gun battle.

May 27: ASG militants seized 20 hostages, including three Americans, from the Dos Palmas resort on Palawan island in the southwestern Philippines.

May-June: Government forces attacked at a group of approximately 100 ASG rebels on Basilan island. Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo called for an "all-out war" against the Abu Sayyaf Group.

August: Muslim extremists raided a southern Philippines village, seizing 36 local hostages, then beheading at least four of them.

2002

January: More than 650 U.S. soldiers -- including 160 Special Forces troops -- conducted training exercises with the Philippine military. The Americans assisted the Philippine government on patrols on the island of Basilan, a stronghold of Abu Sayyaf. Officials said the U.S. troops would not be involved in fighting and would only use force in self-defense. Washington also provided $92 million to the Philippines for military equipment.

Oct. 17: Two bombs detonated in Zamboanga, killing five and wounding more than 100. Authorities suspected Abu Sayyaf involvement in the attack.

2003

Aug. 17: Four Abu Sayyaf militants aboard a motorboat were killed in a clash with the military escort of a fishing trawler off the coast of Zamboanga City.

Aug. 21: The Philippine military announced the capture of two ASG subcommanders who were involved in the kidnapping of 21 tourists in Malaysia in 2000.

Aug. 31: Philippine troops killed three ASG guerrillas in a clash on the island of Jolo.

Dec. 30: The Philippine military said it captured Alih Malaban, a senior ASG field commander, during an operation in Mindanao.

2004

Nov. 19: Khadafi Janjalani was said to have been killed in air strikes against rebel hideouts on Mindanao. The report turned out to be erroneous.

2005

February: Philippine government attacks sparked a period of heavy fighting on the island of Jolo, an ASG stronghold. Around 300 members of ASG and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front fought against government forces that numbered as many as 5,000.

Feb. 14: ASG detonated bombs in three Philippine cities -- Manila, Davao and General Santos -- in retaliation for an ongoing military offensive against Islamic militants in the southern Philippines. At least nine people were killed and more than 100 were injured.

July: Moro Islamic Liberation Front commanders dismissed Abu Sayyaf leader Khadafi Janjalani from the group's camp in Mindanao, according to a senior Philippine army commander. The MILF announced that no ASG or Jemaah Islamiyah members would be allowed to enter its territory. The Philippine army subsequently launched an operation to hunt down Janjalani. Two battalions of troops pursued the ASG leader and a band of 25 fighters for several weeks.

2006

April 28: Anti-terrorist police raided an Abu Sayyaf sleeper cell on the outskirts of Manila, according to Philippine intelligence officials. The terrorists fled, but a cache of crude bombs and grenades was confiscated.

July: Members of the Abu Sayyaf Group were reportedly found training, in a Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) stronghold in central Mindanao.

July 18: A Filipino police officer was killed and three others were wounded when members of Abu Sayyaf launched an ambush in the Muslim town of Maimbung, on the Sulu archipelago. The assailants, reportedly disguised as members of the military forces, were manning checkpoints.

Aug. 1: The Philippine military launched Operation Ultimatum against ASG. Ten battalions -- more than 7,000 troops -- were sent to Jolo island to pursue group leaders.

Sept. 4: ASG leader Khadafi Janjalani was wounded in a battle with the Philippine military and later died from an infection. His remains were discovered in December and DNA tests confirmed his identity.

2007

Jan. 16: ASG senior member Jainal Antel Sali, known as Abu Sulaiman, was killed in a battle with Philippine special operations forces in Talipao, Sulu.

Jan. 19: The military sent an additional 1,500 marines to Basilan island to join the ongoing Operation Ultimatum against ASG.

February: Senior member Albader Parad died from wounds suffered during a battle with the military in Sulu province.

March 11: Philippine military officials captured ASG member Abu Usman, a suspect in a January 2001 kidnapping in Lantawan, Basilan.

March 16: Philippine security forces on Basilan captured ASG member Merang Abate for his suspected involvement in several kidnappings.

April 19: ASG militants delivered the severed heads of seven hostages to an army base in Sulu province.

June 7: The U.S. paid a total of $10 million to informants that provided leading tips leading to Janjalani and Solaiman.

June: ASG field commanders chose the Syria-trained Islamic scholar Yasser Igasan as the new ASG leader.

July: Combined forces of the ASG, and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) engaged a force of Philippine marines on Basilan island, killing 14. Ten marines were beheaded. The militants ambushed the marines, who were searching for a missionary priest who had been kidnapped in June.

August: In response to the July ambush, the government mounted a major attack on militants in Sulu. In the fighting, 27 members of the combined ASG and renegade MNLF forces were killed, and many more were injured. Fifteen government troops were killed and 10 others wounded. The government estimated there were 120 armed militants involved in the fighting.

September: Philippine security officials arrested eight ASG members on Palawan island and in Zamboanga.

Nov. 12: Philippine security officials arrested Demaatol Guialal in Sultan Kudarat for his involvement in two bombings that left six dead and over 20 injured.

Nov. 15: A bomb planted by militants outside the Philippine House of Representatives killed a congressman, a driver and a legislative worker. Thelegislator, Rep. Wahab Akbar, reportedly was a member of ASG in the 1990s, though he denied such accounts. He had been working with government and U.S. officials against ASG. Three ASG suspects were arrested within days of the blast.

Dec. 6: A Philippine court convicted 14 ASG members for the May 2001 Dos Palmas kidnappings.

Dec. 10: Philippine authorities arrested ASG member Abdel Kamala in Zamboanga City for participating in the Dos Palmas kidnappings and in another attack in June 2001.

Dec. 31: The Philippine government issued a report of its 2007 achievements against ASG. The report said the number of Abu Sayyaf members declined to 379 from the 2006 level of 452. The military reported that 144 Abu Sayyaf members were “neutralized” in 2007, with 57 killed, 75 captured and two surrenders.

2008

Jan. 17: ASG militants raided a convent in the remote southern Philippine island province of Tawi-Tawi, killing a Catholic missionary during a kidnapping attempt.

February: Police discovered a plot to assassinate Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Militants from ASG and Jemaah Islamiyah were behind the plot.

Feb. 4: Philippine troops clashed with Islamic militants on Jolo during a search for two people kidnapped in January. Two soldiers and three militants were killed in the fighting.

June 8: A Filipino broadcast journalist and her two-man crew were kidnapped on Sulu. The journalist was en route to interview Radulan Sahiron. They were released days later after reportedly paying part of the demanded ransom.

Sept. 15: ASG kidnapped two humanitarian aid workers in Barangay Kabangalan in Basilan.

Sept. 26: Adm. Timothy Keating, head of the U.S. Pacific Command, said the U.S. would continue supporting the Philippines’ campaign against terrorism.

Oct. 11: In a gun battle with militants, police foiled an attempted kidnapping in the southern province of Sulu. One ASG militant was killed and three were captured. Two of those arrested were found to be behind the June 2008 television-crew kidnappings.

Last Updated:

November 2008