IS declares war vs. MILF

MAGUINDANAO - Local ISIS fighters have declared a total war with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which signed a peace deal with Manila in 2014, and the recent attack by the militants on the former secessionist group in the southern Philippine province of Maguindanao was not the first.

Members of the the Islamic State East Asia Province (ISEAP) have branded the MILF as "apostate Moro militia" and considered the once powerful rebel group as a rival, according to a report by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) which monitors, tracks, translates, researches, and analyzes cyber jihad originating from the Middle East, Iran, South Asia, and North and West Africa.

ISEAP has also attacked various MILF positions since 2021, according to MEMRI, which cited the ISIS weekly Al-Naba. 

MILF fighters clean their anti-tank weapons inside their barracks in the southern Philippine province of Maguindanao. (File photo by Al Jacinto)

MEMRI, upon the request of the regional newspaper, The Mindanao Examiner, released its report of the ISEAP attack on MILF positions in Maguindanao, a major stronghold of the former secessionist group headed by Ahod Ebrahim, now the Chief Minister of the Bangsamoro autonomous region. 

This is the MEMRI report: “On May 17, 2023, the Islamic State East Asia Province (ISEAP) claimed responsibility for a May 13 attack against Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) positions with machine guns, in the village of Tuayan, in the area of Maguindanao, southern Philippines, causing MILF operatives to flee. Later, ISEAP fighters burned the positions and seized an RPG launcher.”

“In the last few years, ISEAP has claimed several attacks against "apostate Moro militia" - an Islamist insurgent group fighting to establish an independent Muslim state in the southern Philippines - and considers MILF a rival. On October 7, 2021, ISEAP fighters attacked an emplacement of the MILF in Datu Salibo, Maguindanao province. Issue 332 of ISIS weekly Al-Naba' reported that on March 9, 2022, ISEAP fighters killed a member of MILF in Inaladan, Maguindanao province, and seized his rifle.”

“ISEAP activity declined noticeably between 2019 and 2021, but experienced a slight resurgence the following year, after losing many senior leaders in quick succession and causing the ISIS branch in the Philippines to split into small groups. The attack on May 13 is the third attack claimed by ISEAP in 2023. On February 6, ISEAP fighters ambushed Philippine army forces, in Lanao del Sur province, Mindanao Island in the south of the country, killing one soldier and wounding three and on April 20, 2023, Al-Naba' claimed that ISEAP fighters detonated an IED against Filipino army, in Lanao del Sur province, injuring many.”

The report was exclusive to MEMRI members only. 

The ISEAP attack was first reported by SITE Intelligence Group, an American for-profit consultancy group that tracks online activity of white supremacist and jihadist organizations. “In Rare Communique, ISEAP Reports Clash with MILF Fighters in Maguindanao,” it said, but the report is also exclusive to its paying members.

A tweet by War Noir, a part-time weapons and conflicts researcher, reported that ISEAP claimed responsibility for a May 13 attack against MILF positions with machine guns causing MILF operatives to flee. "Later, ISEAP fighters burned the positions and seized an RPG launcher," War Noir tweeted with an accompanying photo of ISEAP war booties.

It was unknown whether Philippine authorities were unaware of the ISEAP attacks or have not reported the clashes for a still unknown reason and Ebrahim has also not released any statement. (Mindanao Examiner)