The Al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group remains capable of causing chaos in the southern Philippines despite the US military's involvement in a nearly decade-long campaign to extinguish it. In the latest violence blamed on the small band of Islamic militants, at least 15 people were killed Tuesday in bombings and shootings on the remote southern island of Basilan. Regional military chief Benjamin Dolorfino said the attacks came despite tight security on Basilan, a longtime Abu Sayyaf stronghold, in preparation for the national elections on May 10. The Abu Sayyaf was founded in the 1990s with seed money from Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda-network to fight for an independent Muslim state in the south of the mainly Catholic nation, Philippine military intelligence officials say. The militants often resort to kidnappings, mainly targeting foreigners and Christians, to raise funds from ransoms. Failure to pay ransoms often results in the beheading of the hostages. The group is also capable of much bigger strikes, such as the bombing of a ferry in Manila Bay in 2004 that claimed more than 100 lives and was the nation's worst terrorist attack. US Special Forces advisers arrived in the southern Philippines to train and equip the Filipino military to combat the Abu Sayyaf in 2001 as part of then US president George W. Bush's so-called "war on terror." A few hundred US troops have been in the south constantly since then. US intelligence and weaponry have helped Filipino soldiers capture or kill many of the Abu Sayyaf's main leader. Most recently, the government scored three consecutive blows against the group in late February with the arrest of a senior bomb-maker, the killing of a top commander and the capture of a member buying the group's ammunition. The military estimates the group now has less than 400 militants, down from a peak of about 1,200 in 2002. But they are still capable of carrying out shocking attacks in and around the heavily forested islands of Basilan and Jolo, where they can count on the support of Muslim communities as well as other militant groups. Elements of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a Muslim rebel group that has been waging a separatist insurgency in the southern Mindanao region since the 1970s, are also known to mix with the Abu Sayyaf. Another example of the Abu Sayyaf's enduring threat came in February when its gunmen raided a town on Basilan, killing 11 people.
Philippine public voices strong support for security ties with U.S: In pre-9/11 survey, public divided on accepting foreign assistance to counter Abu Sayyaf (Opinion brief)
A progress report on the Philippines: The Balikatan exercises, the Abu Sayyaf, and Al-Qaeda (Heritage lectures)
HOSTAGE TAKING AND TERRORISM: THE HUMAN BARGAINING CHIP: An entry from Gale's <i>History Behind the Headlines, Vols. 1-6</i>
THE PHILIPPINES REBELLION: FREEDOM FIGHTING, BANDITRY, OR TERRORISM?: An entry from Gale's <i>History Behind the Headlines, Vols. 1-6</i>
Maritime terrorism: focusing on the probable.: An article from: Naval War College Review
