Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

Southeast Asia

Wanted BIFF militant surrenders in southern Philippines

2022-10-06

[BenarNews] An aide to one of the Philippines’ most wanted bomb-makers, the late hard boy Abdul Basit Usman, has surrendered to authorities in the volatile southern region of Mindanao, officials said Wednesday.

The suspect, identified as Manap Mamaluba, is a member of the 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 Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters
...a MILF splinter group aligned with the Islamic State...
(BIFF) hard boy group and was on the run from authorities for years, according to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

Mamaluba surrendered two weeks ago, but this was only made public after he was subjected to verification and questioning this week, said Nicanor Suarez, front man for the investigation bureau.

BIFF is a splinter of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a former separatist guerrilla group whose leaders now control an autonomous region in the southern Philippines. The surrender occurred in the area formally known as the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Moslem Mindanao (BAARM), according to a statement from the bureau.

"The surrender of Mamaluba was made possible through his uncle, a certain Commander Tiger of the MILF," Suarez said. "Currently, the subject is under the custody of the Municipality of Datu Abdullah Sangki."

The exact identity of Commander Tiger was not revealed, although he is believed to be one of the field commanders of the MILF in the southern province of Maguindanao, intelligence officials said.

Officials did not release more details about Mamaluba.

His boss, Usman, was a top hard boy who had made it onto the U.S. State Department’s list of wanted terrorists. Security experts say Usman had trained many Lions of Islam in bomb making, including those affiliated with Jemaah Islamiyah.

JI, an Indonesia-based hard boy group and the Southeast Asian affiliate of al-Qaeda, was blamed for the October 2002 Bali bombings - that country’s deadliest terror attack to date.

In January 2015, Usman escaped a raid by the police Special Action Force (SAF) in the town of Mamasapano in Mindanao that resulted in the death of Zulkifli bin Hir (alias Marwan), a Malaysian terror suspect who was hiding in the southern Philippines.

Forty-four SAF commandos were killed during the botched operation. They became caught in a deadly firefight with members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front who thought they had come under attack.

The Philippine military killed Usman three months later.

The BIFF, the splinter faction, has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State bad boy group, and many of its members are separately wanted for other crimes, including kidnapping for ransom and extortion.

Col. Abdulrasad Sirajan, the military’s regional front man, told BenarNews that their crackdown against Mamaluba’s colleagues was continuing but government forces remained open to those who were willing to surrender.

"Our operation is going on without rest, but on the other hand, we welcome those who want to live a normal life," he said, adding that about 360 BIFF fighters had surrendered since last year in Maguindanao.

In January 2021, BIFF Lions of Islam carried out two roadside kaboomings that killed three people and injured dozens more in the south.

In 2017, hundreds of pro-IS fighters from Southeast Asia, the Middle East and elsewhere took over the southern Philippine city of Marawi for five months. Some 1,200 people were killed in a battle that ensued between the Lions of Islam and government forces.

While BIFF did not send guerrillas to join that battle, it launched diversionary attacks at the time, according to officials.

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Southeast Asia

Experts question incentives in Rewards for Justice program

2016-01-31

[Inquirer] The $5 million price tag for the capture, dead or alive, of Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, has caught the attention of experts in the aftermath of a tragic police operation to take him down in Mamasapano, Maguindanao province, a year ago.

How the bounty affected the overall conduct of the operation is not clear. However, a Jakarta-based think-tank has urged a rethinking of the role of rewards in the war on terror. As with other terrorists, the bounty for Marwan's capture was put up by the U.S. Rewards for Justice program. The program is credited for aiding in the downfall of key Abu Sayyaf leaders. As of 2012, intelligence firm Strategic Forecasting said, more than $11 million in bounties had been paid out in the Philippines by the program.

The program's website listed as part of its success stories the capture of key Abu Sayyaf figures: Toting Craft Hanno, Khadaffy Janjalani (deceased), and Abu Solaiman and Hamsiraji Marusi Sali. It paid $100,000 for Hanno, $5 million for Janjalani, $5 million for Solaiman, and $1 million for Sali.

In a report, the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict, said,"The huge bounties placed on the heads of foreign jihadis have helped to burnish their reputations as world-class terrorists, perhaps out of proportion to their actual roles. They encourage killing high-value targets rather than making any effort to arrest them alive."

In 2008, a Brussels-based think-tank warned about the distorting effect of monetary rewards in the drive against terrorists in the Philippines. In its report, the International Crisis Group noted that military informants "equate amount of bounty with the importance of the individual concerned."

It cited the case of Jemaah Islamiyah operatives Umar Patek and Dulmatin. Dulmatin, who reports to Umar Patek, commanded $10 million in reward for his capture while his boss only fetched $1 million.

The Rewards for Justice program now lists four terrorists in East Asia and the Pacific region whose capture merits its bounty. They are Isnilon Hapilon of Abu Sayyaf, up to $5 million; Radullan Sahiron of Abu Sayyaf, up to $1 million; and Indonesian Jemaah Islamiyah operative Aris Sumarsono alias Zulkarnaen or Daud, up to $5 million. Abdul Basit Usman of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, who was killed last year, is still on the list, with a reward of up to $1 million.

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Southeast Asia

Philippines persues two Daesh-linked terrorists

2016-01-07

[Manila Times] The Philippine Army's 73rd Infantry Battalion based in Davao del Sur has begun pursuit operations to track down Mohammad Jaafar Maguid, the alleged leader of Ansar al-Khilafah (Supporters of the Caliphate) in the Philippines (AKP). He is believed to be in the hinterlands of Sarangani Province.

Colonel Ronnie Babac is leading the operation against Maguid and his close associate, identified as Limbo Jusin Pala. The two are top on the list of high-profile members of the terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) under its fallen leader Abdul Basit Usman. Maguid was tasked to continue the role of Usman and Malaysian bomb maker Zulkifli bin Hir, also known as "Marwan."

Maguid, alias Tokboy, who escaped from a four-hour firefight with security forces in the town of Palimbang, Sultan Kudarat on November 23, was reportedly on a mission to create large-scale violence in Central Mindanao.

The AKP has claimed affiliation with Daesh, whose presence in Mindanao was confirmed by a ranking military intelligence officer. Another source from Maguindanao said that Maguid directly trained under two Indonesian nationals who arrived in Mindanao three years ago. The Indonesians are reportedly training Daesh recruits organized by Maguid in undisclosed areas near the MILF camp. Their recruits are thought to be disgruntled MILF commanders who now strongly support Daesh in the region.

Maguid and Pala were also tagged as former cell leaders of the 3rd Battalion, Headquarters Brigade of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters’ (BIFF) inner defense group led by its regional field commander Ustadz Haun Salindatu.

Maguid, charged for attacks on the town center of Maasim, Sarangani in August 2008 that killed three people, was arrested in July 2009 but managed to escape from the Sarangani provincial jail in March 2010. Maguid is also facing a series of other charges including for a grenade attack in Maasim Town in June 2009; the murder of Sarangani Rep. Emmanuel Pacquiao's cousin Rogelio Pacquiao in July 2009; the killing of Maasim Vice Mayor Sawab Pangolima last October; and several other incidents.

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Southeast Asia

Rebels, Military: Filipino on U.S. most Wanted List Killed

2015-05-06

More details on this recent article.

[AnNahar]

A Filipino on the United States' list of most wanted "terrorists" has been killed in a firefight in the southern Philippines, Muslim rebel leaders and the military said Monday.

Abdul Basit Usman was killed in a remote mountainous area while being escorted by members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the nation's biggest rebel group, its vice chairman Ghazali Jaafar said.

"We can confirm that Usman is dead and his body was buried in accordance with Muslim tradition," Jaafar told Agence France Presse, but he refused to say who killed him.

Jaafar said Usman was killed as MILF rebels were escorting him to the group's leaders to surrender, adding that he probably did not know he was being taken back to the MILF leaders.

"There was a firefight along the way. Usman could have sensed that he was being double-crossed," Jaafar said.

However he refused to give any more details as to who killed Usman, saying only that the circumstances of the firefight were under investigation.

Military chief General Gregorio Catapang said Usman had been killed, but that it remained unclear as to who killed him.

"Basit Usman is dead, as to the circumstances of what happened during that encounter, it's up to (the investigation)," Catapang told reporters.

The military said five of Usman's followers had also died in the battle, and that some of his own men may have double crossed him.

The U.S. State Department's website describes Usman as "a bomb-making expert with links to the Jemaah Islamiyah and Abu Sayyaf Group terrorist organisations" leading him to be considered a threat to American and Filipino citizens and interests..

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Southeast Asia

Philippine troops 'killed' 139 rebels in monthlong offensive

2015-03-31

[ARABNEWS] A monthlong Philippine offensive against hard-line rebels ended Monday after 139 insurgents were killed, 12 others were captured and bomb-making strongholds were seized by troops, the military chief said.

Ten soldiers were killed and 30 others were wounded in the ground and air strikes in the marshy boundary of Maguindanao and North Cotabato provinces in the southern Philippines. The clashes displaced 120,000 villagers at the height of fighting, and about 30,000 have returned home as the clashes eased, Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang told a news conference.

In a final gunbattle Sunday, four soldiers and 16 insurgents were killed, including a rebel commander, the military said.

Government forces launched the assaults Feb. 25 against the BIFM after its fighters attacked villages and were implicated in the killings in January of 44 police anti-terror commandos in the outskirts of Maguindanao’s Mamasapano town.

“After the relentless operations against the (rebels), we have achieved our objectives, including the neutralization of more than 50 percent of their ranks, the capture of their bomb factories and the seizure of their enclaves or safe havens,” Catapang said.

The military’s account could not be independently verified. Catapang cited intelligence and accounts from troops and villagers for the rebel death toll.

Catapang said a smaller number of troops would continue to hunt the rest of the rebels, specifically Abdul Basit Usman, alleged to be a bomb maker and trainer with links to the Indonesian-based Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist network and a suspect in several deadly bomb attacks in the south.

Washington has offered a $1 million award for Usman’s capture and prosecution.

The huge police casualties in Mamasapano — the government’s biggest single-day combat loss in recent memory — sparked public outrage and calls for retaliatory strikes against the insurgents. The deaths also stalled a peace deal the government signed last year with the largestrebel group in the south, the MILF, some fighters of which became entangled in the clashes that killed the commandos.

After the offensive, government troops will help construct roads, bridges, schools and hospitals in the area of fighting — far-flung communities where poverty, landlessness and neglect have fostered the decades-long rebellion in the south of the nation.

Link

Southeast Asia

Islamic Militant Group Leader Captured in Philippines

2015-03-17

[AnNahar] Philippine security forces have locked away
Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'!
the head of a small Islamic bad boy group who was involved in protecting one of the United States' "most wanted terrorists", the military said Monday.

Mohammad Ali Tambako was detained along with five accomplices as he was riding a motorised tricycle on a main road near a major southern city on Sunday night, military chief General Gregorio Catapang told news hounds.

His capture is part of an offensive against splinter groups who oppose a pact with the nation's biggest Moslem rebel group that aims to end a decades-long separatist insurgency. The rebellion has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

Tambako is head of the Justice for Islamic Movement (JIM), which has only about 70 members but has played a key role in recent deadly violence, including the massacre of 44 coppers, according to Catapang.

He said Tambako had helped to protect Abdul Basit Usman, a Filipino bomb-maker who has a million-dollar reward on his head from the United States.

"He (was) reported to be coddling the notorious bomber Basit Usman and five foreign terrorists," Catapang said.

He expressed hope that, now Tambako was in jug, Usman and the others would soon be arrested.

Police commandoes conducted a botched raid in Moslem rebel territory on January 25 that aimed to kill or capture Usman and another man on the U.S. list of "most wanted terrorists", Malaysian Zulkifli bin Hir.

Zulkifli was reported killed, but Usman escaped, and Moslem rebels killed 44 police commandoes after trapping them in a cornfield.

Catapang said Tambako was among the Moslem rebels who fought the police commandoes.

He said Tambako was captured near General Santos, a coastal city not known for Islamic militancy, more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the farming area where the massacre took place.

His group had just three grenades and four handguns, and did not put up a fight when confronted by police and soldiers, according to Catapang.

Tambako was possibly heading for a safe-house or a boat to escape the recent military campaign, officials said.

More than 65,000 people have been displaced in the fighting over the past month, according to the government.

The military says it has killed about 100 bad boys, although those figures cannot be verified.

Link

Southeast Asia

Two Al-Qaida-Linked Militants Killed in Philippine Clash

2015-02-16

[AnNahar] Two members of an Al-Qaeda-linked group were killed in festivities with troops in the southern Philippines on Sunday, a military spokeswoman said.

Three soldiers and two Lions of Islam were maimed in the fighting that erupted before dawn in the jungles of Basilan
...Basilan is a rugged, jungle-covered island in the southern Philippines. It is a known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf, bandidos, and maybe even orcs. Most people with any sense travel with armed escorts...
island, Captain Rowena Muyuela told AFP.

Sunday's encounter was part of continuing offensives to dislodge Abu Sayyaf
...also known as al-Harakat al-Islamiyya, an Islamist terror group based in Jolo, Basilan and Zamboanga. Since its inception in the early 1990s, the group has carried out bombings, kidnappings, murders, head choppings, and extortion in their uniquely Islamic attempt to set up an independent Moslem province in the Philippines. Abu Sayyaf forces probably number less than 300 cadres. The group is closely allied with remnants of Indonesia's Jemaah Islamiya and has loose ties with MILF and MNLF who sometimes provide cannon fodder...
Death Eaters from the island, she said.

The Abu Sayyaf, set up with seed money from Al-Qaeda in the early 1990s, has been blamed for many of the deadliest krazed killer attacks in the Philippines, including the 2004 Molotov cocktailing of a ferry on Manila Bay that claimed more than 100 lives.

The group, mainly based in Moslem-populated areas of the south, has also been involved in high-profile kidnappings of foreign tourists and Christian missionaries.

In a separate operation elsewhere in the south, 44 police commandos were killed in festivities with other Moslem guerrilla groups last month. They were on a mission to catch two top krazed killers, Malaysian Zulkifli bin Hir and Filipino Abdul Basit Usman.

The FBI has said DNA analysis indicates Zulkifli was probably killed. Usman escaped.

Link

Southeast Asia

Moro group to help government get Abdul Basit Usman. Really.

2015-02-08

[Gulf News] The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (Milf) announced its readiness to assist in the neutralisation of Abdul Basit Usman in an apparent effort to appease government and sceptics in the wake of the Mamasapano incident.

"The Ad Hoc Joint Action (Ahjag) group is ready to help in the effort," Mohagher Iqbal, chief negotiator of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in peace negotiations with the government, said.

Established in 2002, but activated in 2005, the Ahjag played a crucial role in the apprehension of a number of criminal elements mainly in the areas where the Milf operates. But its significance had been clouded by the January 25 incident in Mamasapano, Maguindanao that left 44 police commandos of the Special Action Force (SAF) serving an arrest warrant against two top terrorists, Malaysian Zulfikli Bin Hir aka 'Marwan' and Usman, a Filipino.

During the same SAF operation, carried out in secret, Marwan was killed but Usman was able to escape. The incident also led to an encounter between police commandos and the Milf wherein the latter claimed that 16 of their fighters and civilians had died from.

Due to the number of SAF fatalities The operation had also caused political backlash on the government of President Benigno Aquino III and had threatened to throw a monkey wrench that could squander the gains of the more than decades old grinding of the peace processor between Manila and the Milf.

Certain quarters have accused Milf of providing protection to Usman and Marwan. The two had been hiding in an area known to under the control of the Milf. Iqbal had denied this and reiterated that the Milf and the government could still continue on with the grinding of the peace processor.

"The Ahjag has mechanisms that we can use in getting Usman," he said while stressing that Milf is not giving protection to the terrorist who has a $1 million prize under the United States.

Link

Southeast Asia

BIFF threatens more attacks

2015-02-05

[Manila Bulletin] The Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) yesterday threatened more attacks and called on local residents to avoid military and police outposts or checkpoints in Maguindanao.

On Monday afternoon, BIFF spokesman Abu Misry Mama warned, "To all civilians, Christians or Muslims, living near military checkpoints, leave now because 100 percent we will launch attacks against them. Leave now so you won’t be caught in crossfire."

However, Abul Khayr Alonto, elected chairman of the surviving original members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) central committee, said the Philippines cannot afford another wide-scale armed conflict in Mindanao. He said, "Those who call for all-out-war (after the Mamasapano incident) are those who in their nightmares even don’t know the situation of war."

Misry Mama said BIFF forces are on standby ready to launch attacks and, if attacked by government forces, ready to defend itself.

He also confirmed the movement of BIFF forces along Cotabato-General Santos City National Highway two days ago that nearly led to a clash with the military. But Misry Mama clarified that they were securing some top BIFF leaders who were invited to attend a feast in Talayan area.

The BIFF also promised not to participate in any government investigation in connection with the massacre of 44 SAF commandos. Misry Mama said, "We will not subject ourselves to investigation. If the military enters enter here to investigate, we will shoot them. We are okay if civilians will investigate."

He also confirmed that the SAF operation was really meant to get Zulkilfi bin Hir alias Marwan and Abdul Basit Usman, but denied coddling the two wanted men.

Misry Mama also said that the BIFF received reports that an American was killed during the Mamasapano slaughter. He said the presence of Americans in Mindanao is to the BIFF's advantage as they will no longer have to go the United State to wage war against them. He said, "It’s good that the Americans are here. We will fight against them here. We need not spend money to go to America and fight them there."

Link

Southeast Asia

What really happened in Mindanao on Sunday?

2015-01-29

[Inquirer] Information gathered from different sources, including Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chief Murad Ebrahim, has been used to piece together the events in Maguindanao that led to the deaths of 44 elite police commandos in a gun battle with Moro militants on Sunday.

Around 6:30 a.m. the MILF fighters in Tukanalipao noticed armed uniformed men approaching. Murad said it was the policemen from Special Action Force (SAF) who first fired upon members of the MILF 105th Base Command, sparking the firefight.

The scene of battle was a vast cornfield where the SAF commandos, reportedly not familiar with the terrain, ended up as sitting ducks for some 100 MILF fighters.

A government source said that the SAF forces were divided into two units, a primary force and a secondary force.

The primary force was to get Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias "Marwan," a bomb expert from Jemaah Islamiyah on whose head the United States had placed a $6-million bounty. The SAF had a secondary target, local terrorist Abdul Basit Usman, another bomb expert for whose capture the United States has offered a $3-million reward. The secondary force was to "protect" the primary force.

It was the secondary force that ended up fighting the MILF guerrillas from the 105th Base Command, the source said. After several hours of fighting, the two sides deescalated but as the MILF withdrew, the source said, militants from the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) opened fire on the SAF.

The BIFF had another version of what happened. Group spokesman Abu Misri Mama said at the start, only BIFF militants were involved in the incident. When BIFF forces detected several military vehicles, they prepared an ambush. Mama said, "Many of the casualties [fell] during the ambush."

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Southeast Asia

Source: Terrorist special ops group formed ahead of Phillipine papal visit

2014-11-18

[InterAksyon] A source from Philippine National Police intelnligence said a newly-formed jihadist group, suspected to be led by Jemaah Islamiyah (JI)-trained Abdul Basit Usman, is in Luzon ahead of the five-day visit of Pope Francis this January 2015.

The group is apparently a 15-man so-called Special Operations Group (SOG), the source said. The SOG is claimed to be comprised of members of the Al Hansar Khilafa, which is said to have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The source said that the deployment of the SOG from Usman's Group started last June, and may have something to do with the Pope's forthcoming visit. He said the formation of Usman's group, called the "Bangsamoro Justice Movement (BJM)" may have been disrupted after the arrest of Khair Mundos this June and that of Ricardo Ayeras of the Rajah Solaiman Movement (RSM).

Mundos, a key leader of the ASG, was suspected to be casing possible routes to be taken by the pontiff when he visits the country from January 15 to 19, while Ayeras was nabbed by the police in Quezon City early last month over a simple traffic violation.

The source estimated that the combat strength of the Al Hansar Khilafa could be as many as 60 men. He said, "Their members come from the Rajah Solaiman Movement-Abu Sayyaf Group of the Isnilon Hapilon faction and Usman's former men with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)," adding that there are also some members from the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in the Al Hansar Khilafa, with three members of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) also making up the other members of the group.

The source added that the members of Usman's SOG are in Luzon, with some of them possibly in Metro Manila and in the Southern Tagalog Region and all of them well trained in handling explosives.

A separate intelligence source had said earlier that the terror cell in Luzon is headed by an Islamic cleric from Bangladesh. He said four foreigners who joined the Bangladeshi cleric had just come from Cotabato where they were believed to have also trained militants in bomb-making and explosives handling.

Link

Southeast Asia

Two Mindanao cities on "heightened alert"

2014-06-30

Philippine security forces were placed on "heightened alert" particularly in two major cities in Mindanao over a potential terrorist threat from a bomb expert with connections to the Abu Sayyaf ~~terrorists~~ extremists.

Officials confirmed the alert was raised for the cities of Davao and Zamboanga where security operations have resulted in the arrest of long-wanted Abu Sayyaf leaders.

In Davao City, Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said that President Aquino personally called him up to warn him about the threat posed by Abdul Basit Usman who was believed to have orchestrated recent bombing attacks in Mindanao. Duterte said the warning prompted him to call an emergency command conference of all police and military units and agreed to set up checkpoints, as well as the deployment of lawmen in plainclothes.

Officials said the same security measures have been adopted in Zamboanga City to foil attacks following the recent arrest of three suspected Abu Sayyaf leaders linked to several abductions from a resort on the island state of Sabah in Malaysia.

Meanwhile, the country’s intelligence community said that Usman continued to pose a serious threat to Mindanao after he was confirmed to have been alive. Usman, who carries a $1 million bounty offered by the US government, had reportedly been killed during an American drone attack at the Afghan/Pakistan border in 2010. But the Philippine military now say that Usman is alive and that he was reportedly training Abu Sayyaf ~~terrorists~~ militants and members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) on the manufacture of improvised bombs used in a recent series of attacks in the area.

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