'Killed overall ISIS Philippines leader was Hassan Group emir'
But Philippine military declines to name the slain leader.
ZAMBOANGA DEL SUR: The Philippine military has revealed to SEA MILITANCY that the overall Islamic State - Philippines leader killed in a military offensive along with 10 followers on Friday (Dec. 1) was the leader of the Dawlah Islamiyah - Hassan Group.
Major Andrew Linao, the spokesman for the Western Mindanao Command, a counterterrorism command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines for the region, made the revelation in a message Sunday (Dec. 3) after being contacted by SEA MILITANCY.
However, Linao declined to name the slain leader of the group.
“DI Hassan Group. The identity is being withheld meantime,” Linao said in a short message on Viber using the abbreviation for Dawlah Islamiyah, Arabic for Islamic State (IS), the Middle Eastern terror group.
The Philippine military on Saturday (Dec. 2) announced in a statement that the 11 terrorists were killed in ground and air strikes in the southern province of Maguindanao del Sur, saying they were members of “Dawlah Islamiyah - Philippines”, but the military had not named their specific pro-IS terror group, which currently numbers a few in the southern Philippines. The military also had not named the slain leader among the 11.
The reference to “Dawlah Islamiyah - Philippines” apparently meant the slain leader had been not only the emir of his specific terror group but also for the whole of the IS franchise in the Philippines.
The Hassan Group reportedly traces its roots to the now defunct al-Khobar extortion gang which operated in the southern cities of Mindanao from 2007-2015.
Before the group’s leader, Salahuddin Hassan, was killed on Oct. 29, 2021, he was referred to by some sources as the emir of IS in Southeast Asia or the Philippines after the demise of Abu Dzar, the leader of another pro-IS outfit, the Maute Group.
Nobody has been reported to succeed Salahuddin at the top of the Hassan Group after his demise but apparently, with Linao’s information, there had been a new emir.