Country Reports on Terrorism 2014 - Foreign Terrorist Organizations: Abu Sayyaf Group

aka al Harakat al Islamiyya (the Islamic Movement)

Description: The Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization on October 8, 1997. ASG is the most violent of the terrorist groups operating in the Philippines and claims to promote an independent Islamic state in western Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago. The group split from the much larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the early 1990s under the leadership of Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani, who was killed in a clash with Philippine police in December 1998.

Activities: The ASG engages in kidnapping for ransom, bombings, ambushes of security personnel, public beheadings, assassinations, and extortion. In April 2000, an ASG faction kidnapped 21 people, including 10 Western tourists, from a resort in Malaysia. In May 2001, the ASG kidnapped three U.S. citizens and 17 Philippine nationals from a tourist resort in Palawan, Philippines. Several of the hostages, including U.S. citizen Guillermo Sobero, were murdered. A Philippine military hostage rescue operation in June 2002 freed U.S. hostage Gracia Burnham, but her husband, U.S. national Martin Burnham, and Deborah Yap of the Philippines were killed. Philippine and U.S. authorities blamed the ASG for a bombing near a Philippine military base in Zamboanga in October 2002 that killed a U.S. service member. In one of the most destructive acts of maritime violence, the ASG bombed SuperFerry 14 in Manila Bay in February 2004, killing at least 116 people.

In 2014, ASG remained active, conducting numerous attacks on civilian and government targets in the southern Philippines. On July 28, 40 to 50 ASG militants with assault rifles opened fire on civilians traveling to celebrate the end of Ramadan, killing at least 21, including six children, and wounding 11. At least four members of a Talipao civilian security force were killed in the attack. In a July video, senior ASG leader Isnilon Hapilon, also an FBI most-wanted terrorist, swore allegiance to ISIL and ISIL's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Philippine police conducted a number of raids and arrests of ASG members in 2014, including an ASG leader, Khair Mundos. Mundos confessed to having arranged the transfer of funds from al-Qa'ida to ASG to be used in bombings and other criminal acts throughout the island of Mindanao.

Strength: ASG is estimated to have 400 members.

Location/Area of Operation: The ASG operates primarily in the Philippine provinces of the Sulu Archipelago, namely Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi; and on the Zamboanga Peninsula. The group also operates in Malaysia.

Funding and External Aid: The ASG is funded through kidnapping for ransom operations and extortion, and may receive funding from external sources including remittances from supportive overseas Philippine workers and Middle East-based violent extremists. In the past, the ASG has also received assistance from regional terrorist groups such as Jemaah Islamiya, whose operatives provided training to ASG members and helped facilitate several ASG terrorist attacks.