| Abu Sayyaf Group |
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| World Affairs Talk | |
| Wednesday, 16 May 2007 | |
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The ASG was founded in Basilan province and operates primarily in the provinces of the Sulu Archipelago, namely Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi. The group also operates on the Zamboanga peninsula, and members occasionally travel to Manila with special mission. In mid-2003, the group started operating in Mindanao’s city of Cotobato and on the provincial coast of Sultan Kudarat, Mindanao. The group expanded its operational reach to Malaysia in 2000 with the abduction of foreigners from a tourist resort there. In April 2000, ASG kidnapped 21 people, including 10 foreign tourists, from a resort in Malaysia and in a separate incident, abducted several foreign journalists and an American citizen. In May 2001, Abu Sayyaf kidnapped 20 people from a resort island in the Philippines and murdered several of the hostages, including American citizen Guillermo Sobero. In June 2002, U.S.-trained Philippine commandos tried to rescue three hostages being held by Abu Sayyaf on Basilan Island. Two of the hostages, including an American citizen were killed in the resulting shootout. Philippine authorities believe that the ASG had a role in the October 2002 bombing near a Philippine military base in Zamboanga that killed three Filipinos and a U.S. serviceman. In February 2004, Abu Sayyaf claimed responsibility for a Philippine ferry fire. The ASG also claimed responsibility for the 2005 Valentine’s Day bombings in Manila, Davao City, and General Santos City, which killed 8 and injured more than 150. The MNLF always expressed disapproval of Abu Sayyaf's such militant and violent activities. Abu Sayyaf is composed of several semi-autonomous factions with an estimated cadre of several hundred active fighters and about 1,000 active supporters. Some ASG members have allegedly studied or worked in Saudi Arabia and developed ties to mujahadeen while fighting and training in the war against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The group finances its operations primarily through robbery, piracy and ransom kidnappings. Philippine forces have apprehended a number of Abu Sayyaf terrorists. The ASG is largely supported by Middle Eastern Islamic extremists, but also receives funding from regional terrorist groups such as Jemaah Islamiya (JI), which is based mainly in Indonesia, and through acts of ransom and extortion. Libya publicly reported in 2000 that it paid millions of dollars for the release of the foreign hostages seized from Malaysia. JI operatives have provided training to ASG members and likely to have facilitated at least some of the ASG’s terrorist attacks. There are authentic reports that Abu Sayyaf is facing a leadership crisis now which makes the entire group extremely volatile. In January 2007, US backed Philippine Army battalions killed Abu Sulaiman, a senior Abu Sayyaf commander and Janjalani’s likely successor. Radullan Sahiron, a one-armed septuagenarian and senior leader in the group, had to take the top leadership position in January 2007. It is blurred, how active the group will remain as it lost most of its effective leader in a short span of time. Share & Bookmark             |
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