MILF mum on reports

 'Local ISIS fighters attack MILF position in Mindanao'

COTABATO CITY - Local Muslim militants allied with the Islamic State launched simultaneous attacks anew against the former rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the restive southern Filipino province of Maguindanao.

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 reported the attack mounted by fighters of the Islamic State East Asia Province (ISEAP). It also released a photo showing an automatic rifle and magazines, including a radio communication set seized by ISEAP from the MILF. An ISIS flag was prominently displayed along with the seized weapon.

A MEMRI report, some portions are redacted, says local ISEAP fighters mounted attacks on MILF targets in Maguindanao province in southern Philippines and seized an automatic rifle and magazines. It was the second attack against the MILF since May.

The report was contained in the weekly ISIS newsletter Al-Naba' and obtained by MEMRI which was released only this week. "On August 10, 2023, the Islamic State (ISIS) released its weekly newsletter Al-Naba', Issue 403, which included an exclusive report claiming that fighters of the Islamic State East Asia Province (ISEAP) carried out an attack in the Philippines targeting the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, group based in Mindanao which reportedly made a peace agreement with the Philippine government," MEMRI reported.

The MILF has not released any statement on the ISIS claims.

In May, the MEMRI reported that ISEAP fighters also simultaneously attacked MILF positions in Tuayan village in Shariff Aguak town in Maguindanao, a stronghold of the former rebel group which signed a peace deal with Manila in 2014. At least three reports from various international sources confirmed the raids after ISIS posted the attacks on its website on Wednesday, May 17. 

ISIS reported that ISEAP members attacked and engaged former MILF fighters and eventually drove them out from their camps which were also torched by the militants. "Islamic State East Asia Province (ISEAP) claims attack against Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Positions in Philippines," MEMRI announced, but the report was exclusive to its members only.

This 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 just like MEMRI, its reports are exclusive to its paying members.

But a tweet on Friday, May 19 by War Noir, a part-time weapons and conflicts researcher, reported that the attack occurred on Saturday, May 13 and was only announced May 17 by ISIS. “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,” War Noir tweeted with an accompanying photo of ISEAP war booties.

The leader of the MILF, Ahod Ebrahim, who now sits as Chief Minister of the Bangsamoro autonomous region, has also not released any statement of the previous and latest attacks. 

The MEMRI and ISIS reports did not say who led the recent attacks on the MILF, but the news magazine The Diplomat reported that ISIS has named Esmael Abdulmalik, also known as Abu Turaife, the leader of the Turaife faction, one of the two pro-ISIS factions of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters terror group in the southern Philippines, was touted recently by pro-ISIS media channels as the new emir.

It said Abu Turaife allegedly stepped up to the regional IS top spot after the killing of his predecessor, Maute Group leader Faharuddin Hadji Sattar, also known as Jer Mimbantas and Abu Zacharia, in a Philippine military operation in June of this year.

The Diplomat also quoted a Philippines-based analyst Georgi Engelbrecht as saying that Abu Turaife’s appointment was unexpected but still logical. "Last year, he was very sick and this has led some to believe he actually died. Not many jihadists from the last seven years are alive, so if there was a choice, then Turaife is natural – combining credibility as a preacher, fighter and someone who already became a name," said Engelbrecht, senior Philippines analyst at the International Crisis Group.

"Most of his fighters are relatives and as a Maguindanaon, he may not have a lot of soft power over Maranaos or the Tausugs. Given the Abu Sayyaf  in Sulu is in disarray in any case, and the Maute remnants are also without a leader after Abu Zacharia’s killing, we can probably expect each theater to focus on their own issues," explained Engelbrecht, referring to the two major ethnic groups in Mindanao.

Engelbrecht said the position of emir is highly symbolic, but in terms of operational capabilities, the militants are under serious pressure as they would need more adaptive and creative leaders. "Turaife is old school and an old guard, so we know it will be difficult for him to both operate on his own in central Mindanao, let alone control fighters elsewhere," he said. (Mindanao Examiner)