Who is Abu Turaife, Filipino terrorist touted as new emir of IS Southeast Asia?
Abu Turaife is the leader of one two BIFF terror factions aligned with IS.
MANILA: A new IS leader for the Philippines and Southeast Asia region has been announced following the killing of his predecessor in June by Philippine government forces, analysts told SEA MILITANCY.
Esmael Abdulmalik a.k.a. Abu Turaife, the leader of one of two pro-IS factions of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) terror group, was touted by unofficial IS media channels as the new emir.
The reported leader succeeded Faharuddin Hadji Sattar a.k.a. Jer Mimbantas and Abu Zacharia, the leader of the pro-IS Maute Group and IS in the region, who was killed in a military operation in June this year.
“On 28 June, an unofficial communique circulated within a group chat indicated that Abu Turaife was the emir of Dawlah Islamiyah (DI) Philippines,” said Kenneth Yeo, a Senior Research Analyst at the International Centre of Political Violence and Terrorism Research at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, using another name for IS groups in the Philippines.
“However, Abu Turaife, through an intermediary, claimed (on social media) he was neither aware nor consulted for the role, causing some confusion amongst members.
“The administrator subsequently put up a video showing Abu Turaife’s pledge of allegiance, but I cannot confirm the legitimacy of the video.”
Yeo said this was not the first time Abu Turaife had the opportunity to become the emir.
After Hajan Sawadjaan died, his lieutenant, Salahuddin Hassan, was declared the emir instead of Abu Turaife, said Yeo.
“In January 2023, Abu Turaife also mooted for a certain Abu Erhabee to become the emir of DI Philippines,” he said.
“Abu Turaife also sent conflicting messages as he expressed intentions to be the leader of jihad in Southeast Asia in August 2020 at the start of the pandemic.”
The Singapore analyst said even though there is ambiguity surrounding Abu Turaife’s status, he appears as the most suitable candidate at this stage, and hence the Filipino authorities’ actions of hunting Abu Turaife could be warranted.
The death of Abu Zacharia on 14 June 2023, Yeo recalled, has resulted in calls for retaliation against the military, police and the former rebel group, the Moro Islamic Freedom Fighters (MILF), amongst members of the Maute Group.
“I believe that it is unlikely for the Maute Group to possess the capability to follow through with these threats in the short term,” said Yeo.
“The Abu Turaife-led faction of BIFF retaliated by launching an attack against a PNP vehicle in the evening of the same day,” said Yeo, using the acronym for the Philippine National Police.
An analyst from a US-based terrorism monitoring group said the announcement of Abu Turaife as the new IS leader in the Philippines and region was made on several social media channels.
“Abu Turaife, veteran leader of one of the two ISEA-affiliated Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) factions, was the favoured candidate before Zacharia’s appointment,” said Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium (TRAC) CEO and president Veryan Khan, using the acronym for the so-called Islamic State East Asia province.
“It is worth mentioning that four months ago, Abu Turaife insiders endorsed ‘Abu Erhabee’ as the new leader of Daulah Islamiyah (DI/ISEA) in the Philippines. It is not clear if ‘Abu Erhabee’ is yet another alias of Abu Turaife,” said Khan.
“Abu Turaife is the former leader of a Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters unit known as Jamaah Mohajirin Wal Ansar (JMWA).
“The Turaife group is among the two factions of the BIFF that have pledged their allegiance to the Islamic State, known for the attack and occupation of Marawi City, Lanao del Sur, in 2017, wherein Isnilon Hapilon, the-then IS leader in Southeast Asia, was killed during the operations to retake the city.”
Abu Turaife was the vice chair for internal affairs of the original BIFF, according to the Crisis Group, a think tank, in their report.
The military and MILF look at his faction as the most ideologically inflexible because of its strident rhetoric and incorporation of foreign fighters, whom it has sheltered in exchange for training in finance and logistics.
On social media, Abu Turaife has accused the ex-rebels of abandoning the original Bangsamoro cause of Islamic governance, even calling them apostates, and blasted the national government for its continuous military presence, added the Crisis Group.
A spokesman for the Western Mindanao Command, an antiterrorism multiagency command in the region, when contacted by SEA MILITANCY, said they have yet to receive a report on the matter.
“We still have efforts through military operations and community support programmes on preventing and countering radicalisation and violent extremism against the ASG and BIFF in Mindanao,” said the spokesman, Major Andrew Linao, using the acronym for the Abu Sayyaf Group.