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Recent Appearances...

Southeast Asia

Soldiers Wounded as Philippine Govt Forces Overrun Militant Lair in South

2021-03-05

[BenarNews] At least five government soldiers were maimed during an intense firefight with a band of Islamic State

...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
-linked hard boyz in the southern Philippines, the military said Thursday.

A gunbattle broke out and lasted several hours after members of the 55th Infantry Battalion assaulted a suspected lair of the Daulah Islamiyah-Maute Group

...founded by brothers Omar and Abdullah Maute in 2013 as a proto-Islamic State for their relations and their friends and their relations’ friends. Like Osama bin Laden, they came from a wealthy and politically connected family, and like him they fell in love with the Wahhabi outlook during or following a fancy education abroad. After falling out with Commander Bravo of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in 2014, they built a coalition of pro-Islamic State groups that transcended clan, including Isnilon Hapilon’s faction of Abu Sayyaf, an Islamic State cell from the town of Cotabato; and Ansharul Khalifa Philippines (AKP) based in Sultan Kudarat. In 2016 they swore allegiance to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, calling themselves Daulah Islamiyah-Ranao, and in 2017 they conquered Marawi City, which brought immediate and thorough Philippine army attention...

in the hinterlands of Lanao del Sur province on Wednesday, military officials said.

"Five soldiers sustained minor injuries during the firefight and have been given medical attention," battalion commander Lt. Col. Franco Rafael Alano said.

Government security officials said there were no immediate reports of casualties on the enemy side, a local Death Eater group that had helped lead hundreds of pro-Islamic State (IS) fighters from the Philippines and other countries in a siege on the southern city of Marawi in 2017. Hundreds of fighters on both sides, as well as non-combatants were killed in a five-month battle then.

Alano said Wednesday’s firefight occurred in a remote village in the mountains outside the town of Madalum, where the enemy side dug in for five hours before escaping.

Troops recovered a home-made bomb, bomb-making materials, assorted ammunition, food rations and personal items, he said.

Baby paraphernalia was also recovered, indicating that an infant and its mother were in the company of the Death Eaters, Alano said.

"It was clear evidence of the terrorists’ disregard for the safety of their family members," he said.

The Death Eater group, he said, had been trying to build up its forces ever since their defeat in Marawi nearly four years ago. Those involved in the firefight in Lanao del Sur this week were part of its recruitment team, he added.

The clash took place a day after a suspected Dawlah Islamiyah member surrendered amid a military offensive against the group in the province, authorities said.

Lt. Gen. Corleto Vinluan Jr., chief of the military’s Western Mindanao Command, identified the member as Amirudin Dimakuta, 40, according to the state-run Philippine News Agency.

Link

Southeast Asia

Philippine jihadis denounce influential cleric for supporting democracy

2016-04-20

Don't make the mistake of assuming the "pro-democracy" cleric is a good man, however.

[Mindanao Examiner] Filipino supporters of the Daesh in Lanao del Sur province denounced an influential cleric and branded him as murtad, or apostate, after he endorsed popular Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte who is running for president and Binladen Agakhan Sharief who is gunning for vice governor in the restive Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

They condemned Sheikh Jamil Yahya, also known as Mutawwa, after he appeared in a political propaganda video uploaded April 14 on Binladen's Facebook page. In the clip, it was said that it is obligatory for all Muslims to vote for Binladen and Duterte in the May general elections.

In the video, Yahya said, "Because we have to choose leaders in this election forcibly to Muslims, it is our obligatory as elder scholars to guide you the candidates that are obligatory to be helped and voted. If we don’t do this, you will blame us in the day of judgment."

He said Muslims should vote for Binladen because he and his fellow clerics have witnessed the politician's "good deeds in line with the prosperity of the Muslims, its land and the religion of Islam."

Yahya said that it is necessary for Muslims to vote for Duterte as well, because he had helped a lot of Muslims in Mindanao.

In an Internet forum, the jihadis said they were shocked and saddened over Yahya's political endorsements. They quoted a Koran verse that says, "Until you did not fully cut ties with taghut (tyrants), you are not fully a Muslim, but kafir (infidel). You are obliged to be killed."

One of the jihadis, named al-Ghareeb, said Yahya – like other prominent clerics branded by the Daesh as murtad deserved to be killed. He also quoted Islamic scholar Ibn Taymiyyah who said that "a Muslim who made apostasy regarding few rules of the religion is worse than a kafir who has yet to even embrace those rules."

"We denounce his (Yahya) wrongdoings. His revelation shows his true intention and what he did was totally not permissible in Islam. It is a shame to Allah," said al-Ghareed.

Another of the group said that pious Muslims should "totally disregard" the practices of democracy as it is not divinely created by God, but by humans.

Yahya's pronouncement came after members of the Khilafah Islamiyah Movement (KIM) in Lanao del Sur, now called "Dawlah Islamiyah" or Islamic State, declared Abdullah Maute - alias Abu Hasan - as their leader.

In September 19, 2014, Yahya along with some members of the KIM led more than 100 civilians, including women and children, in pledging their loyalty to Daesh and even hoisted their black flag in Marawi City. Last February, a senior leader of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Abdullah Macapaar, alias Commander Bravo, said that Yahya also had tried to convince him and other MILF leaders to support Daesh.

Yahya also issued a fatwa against several Liberal party candidates for their alleged anti- Muslim stances on various issues.

In May 2011, Yahya led a small rally outside the Golden Mosque in Manila and denounced the killing of Osama bin Laden. During the rally, he called the United States the number one terrorist in the world and the number one enemy of Islam.

Link

Southeast Asia

No letup for Muslim rebels in Ramadan: Manila

2008-09-01

Philippine troops will continue offensives against Muslim rebels in the south but commanders will make "tactical adjustments" in deference to the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, an official said Sunday.

"Our operations against them are continuing even through the Ramadan," army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ernesto Torres said over Manila radio. "There is no instruction for us to stop our offensive against the groups of Bravo and Kato. We cannot delay enforcement of laws."

Soldiers have in the past week taken over more than a dozen camps controlled by Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) leaders Umbra Kato and Abdurahman Macapaar, also known as Commander Bravo, on the southern island of Mindanao.

The two led deadly raids against mostly Christian towns on Mindanao in early August, triggering heavy reprisals from government forces. The fighting has claimed the lives of more than 100 rebels and more than 40 soldiers and civilians and forced more than 280,000 to flee their homes.

Torres said the rebel leaders' forces had splintered into smaller groups on the run in the hinterland. The two men were said to be wounded and running low on ammunition amid the unrelenting offensive, which has put on hold any prospect of resuming peace talks with the separatists in the immediate term.

Kato and Bravo are hard-line senior MILF members. They launched their attacks after the Supreme Court on August 4 blocked a deal that would have given the MILF control over an expanded Muslim autonomous area.

Torres said ground commanders had been ordered to make some "tactical adjustments" including assisting Muslims in evacuation camps who want to go to mosques and places of worship.

Link

Southeast Asia

Philippines: Militant leaders charged with murder

2008-08-23

(AKI) - Police on Friday filed criminal charges against two field commanders of the Muslim separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front and more than 80 others for the alleged murder of civilians in the southern province of Mindanao.

Leader Abdulrahman Macapaar, alias Commander Bravo, and Kato Umbra, were charged in the Provincial Prosecutor's Office in Lanao del Norte Lanao with double murder, robbery and arson.

The rebel group has rejected government demands for the surrender of the two renegade commanders. Both have a 113,000 dollar bounty on them for recent attacks.

The rebel group has rejected government demands for the surrender of the two renegade commanders. Both have a 113,000 dollar bounty on them for recent attacks.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Thursday abandoned a peace deal with the MILF after Christians and politicians in Mindanao objected to what they feared was as a move to create an independent Muslim state.

According to the GMA News website, police cited Bravo and his men for the deadly attacks that occurred in various villages in North Cotabato province last Monday, where 36 people, mostly civilians, were killed.

Meanwhile , more than 25,000 people are believed to have been displaced in the recent violence.

Kato's men have been blamed for the clashes that erupted when they occupied scores of villages in North Cotabato province last week, as well as for attacks last Monday. Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno called on the MILF leadership to help the police in apprehending and bringing to justice the renegade commanders and their co-conspirators. "The filing of cases against the suspects are already known to the MILF central committee. We are hoping that they will assist the government in bringing to justice these lawless elements," Puno reportedly said. "If they are truly committed to peace and want the peace process to continue, then we expect them fully to cooperate with our system of justice."

Link

Southeast Asia

MILF blacks out Mindanao

2003-02-27

A power blackout plunged Mindanao into darkness on Wednesday after suspected Muslim rebels blew up a major pylon in Lanao del Norte, military authorities reported yesterday. The outage occurred while 60,000 troops were on high alert on Mindanao to ward off what the military said were possible attacks by Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas. The pylon in Tuminado was the 12th electrical transmitter operated by state-run National Power Corp. to have been disabled in the past two weeks in the wake of clashes between soldiers and the MILF. Army spokesmen said the bombings were acts of rebel reprisal for the capture by government forces of an MILF stronghold in Pikit town after fierce clashes two weeks ago.

The Armyâs Fourth Infantry Division spokesman, Col. Johnny Macanas, said 15 MILF rebels carried out the attack. Macanas said a certain Macapaar alias Commander Bravo led the attack. In Buluan, Maguindanao, armed men believed to have links with MILF also bombed transmission lines No. 34 and 40 Wednesday night.

The attack occurred two days after MILF chairman Hashim Salamat, in a radio address, urged Muslims to resist Manilaâs âall-out warâ policy. MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu denied the rebels blew up the pylons or that the attacks were in response to Salamatâs call to his people. Peace negotiations between the government and the MILF have been stalled because of the military offensive in Buliok. Kabalu said in a telephone interview the MILF would not talk peace with the government âas long as military presence remainsâ in MILF strongholds.

âWhy should we withdraw (from Buliok)? To allow them to regroup and set up camps once more?ââ Armed Forces Public Information Chief Lt. Col. Micheal Manquiquis said. An officer who refused to be identified said the documents recovered in Buliok clearly show that the MILF does not want peace. The documents, the officer said, contain MILF plans âto cause a psychological damage to a Christian-dominated Philippines.â

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