© GRAPHIC NEWS
© GRAPHIC NEWS
© GRAPHIC NEWS
TERRORISM
Philippines' Jihadists
February 28, 2017 - Abu Sayyaf extremists in the Philippines have murdered German hostage, Jurgen Gustav Kantner, after a $600,000 ransom deadline lapsed over the weekend.
Abu Sayyaf is one of four jihadist groups on the southern islands of Mindanao that have become affiliates of so-called Islamic State. Abu Sayyaf militants conducting kidnapping-for-ransom trade in the Sulu and Celebes Seas earned an estimated $7 million in 2015, according to Stratfor.
Link to Stratfor report
The leader of Abu Sayyaf, Isnilon Hapilon, declared his allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2014. Hapilon recently left his base in Basilan Island and moved to Central Mindanao in an attempt to establish a provincial caliphate for IS.
The Manila Standard reports that terrorist groups, including Abu Sayyaf, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, the Maute group and AKP, have been uniting into a single group called Dawlatul Islamiyah Waliyatul Masrik or DIWM, and have chosen Hapilon as their leader in an effort to be recognised by IS