Rising in the East: The Evolution of the Islamic State in the Philippines
Abstract
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadis announcement of the caliphate in mid-2014 was followed by a series of pledges of support in the Philippines for the Islamic State, which included an allegiance by Isnilon Hapilon of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG). The formal acknowledgment and acceptance of this pledge came in 2016 when Hapilon was declared the groups regional emir. It was only in July 2018, though, when there was a clear reference in the Islamic States weekly newsletter Al Naba (issue number 140) to East Asia specifically as a wilaya. Despite the ambiguity with regard to the status of East Asia as a wilaya, Islamic State-affiliated activity has been observed across the region in the form of attacks and arrests, and there are concerns about inter-country linkages among militants. Even so, the Philippines remains the epicenter of the Islamic State in Southeast Asia. Most notably, the southern Philippines became the location of the five-month Battle of Marawi in mid-2017, which was waged by Islamic State-affiliated groups, and resulted in much death and destruction. The battle demonstrated how affiliation with the Islamic State was advantageous for disparate and weakened groups, serving to unite them and posing a new challenge for the local counterterrorism apparatus. But since the recovery of Marawi, the nature of the Islamic States operations in the country seem to have evolved in ways that has generally made the future trajectory of Islamic State-affiliated groups difficult to foresee. As the second part in a series of reports that map the Islamic States presence in Southeast Asia, this study traces the evolution of the Islamic State in the Philippines between January 2014 and July 2019.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2020
- Accession Number
- AD1146629
Entities
People
- Amira Jadoon
- Charmaine Willis
- Nakissa Jahanbani
Organizations
- United States Military Academy