Islamist extremist militant group, Abu Sayyaf, which has previously pledged its allegiance to ISIS, is fighting the security forces for control of the island of Mindanao. In December 2015, the group has tried to overrun a small army garrison on the island in operations that have displaced more than 30,000 people. The group has gone on the defensive despite suffering a number of defeats and having appeared to be waning after one of its main bases was targeted and a key leader killed in the past few days. It appears to be expanding and a warning has been sounded that groups that have pledged allegiance to ISIS are “planning big operations, like bombings, attacks or assassinations" in the Philippines.
Islamist extremist militant group, Abu Sayyaf, which has previously pledged its allegiance to ISIS, is fighting the security forces for control of the island of Mindanao. In the past few days, the group has tried to overrun a small army garrison on the island in operations that have displaced more than 30,000 people. The group has gone on the defensive despite suffering a number of defeats and having appeared to be waning after one of its main bases was targeted and a key leader killed in December 2015. It appears to be expanding and a warning has been sounded that groups that have pledged allegiance to ISIS are “planning big operations, like bombings, attacks or assassinations" in the Philippines.