Description
The ASG is the most violent of the Islamic separatist groups operating in the southern Philippines. Some ASG leaders have studied or worked in the Middle East and allegedly fought in Afghanistan during the Soviet war. The group split from the Moro National Liberation Front in the early 1990s under the leadership of Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani, who was killed in a clash with Philippine police on 18 December 1998. His younger brother, Khadaffy Janjalani, has replaced him as the nominal leader of the group, which is composed of several semi-autonomous factions.
Activities
Engages in kidnappings for ransom, bombings, assassinations, and extortion.
Although from time to time it claims that its motivation is to promote an
independent Islamic state in western Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago, areas in
the southern Philippines heavily populated by Muslims, the ASG has primarily
used terror for financial profit. Recent bombings may herald a return to a more
radical, politicized agenda. The group’s first large-scale action was a raid on
the town of Ipil in Mindanao in April 1995. In April of 2000, an ASG faction
kidnapped 21 persons, including 10 foreign tourists, from a resort in Malaysia.
Separately in 2000, the group abducted several foreign journalists, three
Malaysians, and a US citizen. On 27 May 2001, the ASG kidnapped three US
citizens and 17 Filipinos from a tourist resort in Palawan, Philippines. Several
of the hostages, including one US citizen, were murdered. During a Philippine
military hostage rescue operation on 7 June 2002, US hostage Gracia Burnham was
rescued, but US hostage Martin Burnham and Filipina Deborah Yap were killed
during the operation. Philippine authorities say that the ASG had a role in the
bombing near a Philippine military base in Zamboanga on 2 October that killed
three Filipinos and one US serviceman and wounded 20 others.
Strength
Estimated to have 200 to 500 members.
Location/Area of Operation
The ASG was founded in Basilan Province, and mainly operates there and in the
neighboring provinces of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi in the Sulu Archipelago. It also
operates in the Zamboanga peninsula, and members occasionally travel to Manila
and other parts of the country. The group expanded its operations to Malaysia in
2000 when it abducted foreigners from a tourist resort.
External Aid
Largely self-financing through ransom and extortion; may receive support from Islamic extremists in the Middle East and South Asia. Libya publicly paid millions of dollars for the release of the foreign hostages seized from Malaysia in 2000.