The Basilan Attack: First Significant Islamic State Battle In Southeast Asia by Rohan Gunaratna, Eurasia Review
Following the attack by IS on the Philippine army in Western Mindanao, Manila should make fighting IS its national security priority and step up cooperation with its counterparts in Southeast Asia to eliminate the threat. Otherwise, IS will grow and affect the security and stability of the region.
The self-styled Islamic State (IS) mounted an attack on the Philippine army in Basilan, Western Mindanao, killing 18 and injuring 53 on 9 April 2016. Although Manila did not acknowledge the clash as a fight between government forces and IS, the group that fought the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) was led by the IS’ designated leader in the southern Philippines, Isnilon Hapilon, a former deputy head of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG). Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and the Armed Forces Chief of Staff flew to Zamboanga City and Basilan the next day.
The operation by AFP was poorly executed and demonstrated the lack of appreciation of the emerging IS threat. Last year, on 25 January 2015, the police suffered a similar debacle when 44 Special Action Force Troopers were killed in Mamasapano. Although the operation killed Marwan, the top Malaysian terrorist, it demonstrated the difficulty of AFP effectively operating in Mindanao. An IS press release was subsequently issued on 13 April 2016 entitled “100 Killed from the Philippine Crusader Army in Operations by Soldiers of the Caliphate in Philippines”. Significantly it was signed off in the name of “The Islamic State, Philippines”…