A New Caliph for the Islamic State and IS affiliated developments in the Philippines

 



 With the announcement of a new leader by the Islamic State (IS)

terrorist group, a wave of oaths of allegiance have begun to occur from IS affiliates. In the case of Southeast Asia, the Philippines is the first from where IS affiliates and members have begun pledging their allegiance to new IS Caliph Abu Al-Hassan Al-Hashemi Al-Qurashi.

In the Philippines, known IS affiliates are the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) Abu Turaifie faction, Maute Group and the Ansar Khalifa Philippines(AKP). Despite various key leaders being eliminated since the Siege of Marawi in 2017, IS affiliates continue to be active in Southern Philippines. 

The fact that images from the Philippines have been shared by IS Central media, this is an indication that there is a line of direct communication between IS affiliates in the Philippines and IS Central in Syria. The Filipino terrorist seem to be younger and the interest in the ideology of IS certainly has not lost interests amongst Filipino Muslims and the latest images are evident of that despite the Filipino security forces conducting operations on the terrorists with the latest being on 3 March 2022.

Amidst the latest military operations in Marawi, the armed forces also announced that  Abu Zacaria was designated as (IS) emir for Southeast Asia. This is a major development as IS Southeast Asia has been leaderless for awhile and this announcement would give the terrorists encouragement to carry out more attacks. Abu Zacaria it should be noted is a survivor of the five month long Marawi Siege. IS affiliated media outlets have also been sharing news of developments in the Philippines especially as it is a favored training ground and also destination for foreign fighters who are affiliated with IS.

It is crucial to monitor these developments as there could be a possibility of another Marawi like episodee



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