Country Reports on Terrorism 2012

Funding and External Aid: The ANO’s current access to resources is unclear, but it is likely
that the decline in support previously provided by Libya, Syria, and Iran has had a severe impact
on its capabilities.
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 kidnappings for ransom, bombings, 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. serviceman. 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 2012, ASG remained active, particularly with kidnappings for ransom, an increase in the use
of improvised explosive device (IED) attacks, and armed attacks on civilian and police
personnel. In January, the ASG was linked to the bombing of a bridge in a town of Sulu
province. In March, police linked the ASG to the bombing of a commercial district on the island
of Jolo that caused two deaths and 13 injuries. In April, 22 Philippine soldiers were wounded
when suspected ASG members detonated an IED while patrolling in Basilan province. In
November, police in the southern Philippines thwarted a bomb attack in a heavy populated urban
area when they arrested three ASG members and seized two motorcycles, one of which was
rigged with explosives.
Philippine police captured or killed a number of ASG leaders in 2012. In February, Philippine
police forces arrested Abdulpattah Ismael, who was involved in the 2007 beheadings of 10
Philippine marines and a 2009 prison break, and arrested ASG sub-commander, Abdulhan Ussih.
In March, Philippine troops captured ASG militants, Anni Idris and Serham Akalon, who were
implicated in beheadings and kidnappings.
Strength: ASG is estimated to have 400 members.
Location/Area of Operation: The ASG operates primarily in the provinces of the Sulu
Archipelago, namely Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi. The group also operates on the Zamboanga
Peninsula.
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