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| Southeast Asia |
| Analysts: Abu Sayyaf Likely to Resume Kidnappings for Ransom |
| 2020-07-31 |
| [BenarNews] Cash-strapped and under pressure from security forces, Abu Sayyaf ...also known as al-Harakat al-Islamiyya, an Islamist terror group based in Jolo, Basilan and Zamboanga. Since its inception in the early 1990s, the group has carried out bombings, kidnappings, murders, head choppings, and extortion in their uniquely Islamic attempt to set up an independent Moslem province in the Philippines. Abu Sayyaf forces probably number less than 300 cadres. The group is closely allied with remnants of Indonesia's Jemaah Islamiya and has loose ties with MILF and MNLF who sometimes provide cannon fodder... is likely to pick up its piracy and kidnapping in coming months, security experts told a recent online forum. Five Indonesians, including a minor, are being held by Abu Sayyaf, the Indonesian Foreign Ministry said, but there have been no new kidnappings since January, according to authorities. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |