Abu Sayyaf Attack Checkpoint in Philippines

On Tuesday, July 31^st, a car bomb exploded at a check point on the southern island of Basilan in the Philippines. According to witnesses, the van exploded when it was being inspected by members of the Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit (CAFGU), resulting in the deaths of 10 people. The attacks appeared to be the work of the Philippine-based Abu Sayyaf (ASG) terror organization who are known to have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. Philippine forces were able to force the group out of the area last year, but this new attack shows that the ASG are still an active threat to the Philippines.

Since 1997 Abu Sayyaf has been designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the United States Department of State. The ASG is one of the most violent Islamic terror groups operating in Southeast Asia and ultimately seek to establish an independent Islamic caliphate in the region. They routinely engage in kidnapping, bombings, and assassinations as a means to gain financial profit and to promote its jihadist agenda.

The bombing comes in the wake of President Rodrigo Duterte pushing to grant greater political autonomy for the Muslim-majority areas on the Philippines’ southern island of Mindanao. This move of allowing greater political autonomy has led some of the region’s separatist groups in an effort to aid the government hunt down the Islamic extremists that are operating within the area. The new law allowing more political independence and autonomy to the nation’s Muslim minority is the result of years of negotiations between the federal government and multiple Mindanao rebel groups, including the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).