Last week, Filipino troops conducted a successful raid against two terrorists who led the East Asian branch of ISIS. The Philippines is the United States’ oldest ally in the Indo-Pacific, and as U.S. forces conducted 38 operations against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria last month, reports Task & Purpose, the terrorist organization still poses a noticeable threat for American troops.
Successful Raids
The two leaders — Abu Zacharia and Abu Morsid — were killed when battalions from the Philippine police and army raided two apartments in Mindanao, the largest island in the southern portion of the archipelago, according to the Manila Standard.
Abu Morsid resisted arrest by throwing a hand grenade, which did not go off. Abu Zacharia engaged the Philippine forces in a 10-minute firefight that involved more grenades and a mortar.
The raid was quick and clean, with the only casualty outside the two targets being one Filipino soldier who received a leg injury during the firefight with Abu Zacharia, reports ABS-CBN.
Local forces removed two women and three children — all unharmed — from the two apartments, says Al Jazeera. One woman who lived in Abu Zacharia’s apartment, however, was absent during the raid and remains at large.
Abu Morsid, the Al Jazeera report continues, was the terror cell’s top logistics officer, while Abu Zacharia led the organization as emir, or commander, according to the Manila Star.
Another terror organization and an affiliate of ISIS — the Abu Sayyaf Group — also saw Filipino forces eliminate one of its leaders earlier this week when police killed Nurudin Maddalan after he opened fire to resist arrest, reports the Manila Standard.
A History of Terror
Mindanao has suffered from violent insurgency movements for decades, reports Al Jazeera, but the island first saw Islamist fighters in the country pledge loyalty to ISIS in 2014, according to the CIA.
Since 2015, ISIS affiliates in the Philippines have conducted 217 successful attacks and kidnappings, which translates to around one every other week for the last seven and a half years, according to the Southeast Asia Militant Atlas.
The most famous and deadly attack occurred in 2017 when Abu Zacharia’s movement held the city of Marawi — where he and Abu Morsid died last week — under siege for months. According to the CIA, the Abu Sayyaf Group participated in the siege, and with over a thousand deaths, the town still hasn’t fully recovered, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.
Local Responses
The siege has left a lasting impact on Mindanaoans. One man told Al Jazeera that “We are anti-ISIS. We experienced already the Marawi siege. It was a nightmare. We don’t want it to happen again.” He continued, commenting on the recent raids, “We’re just praying every month that this will be the last of it. We’re thankful that the authorities discovered them.”
Western Mindanao Command’s leader — Chief Lieutenant-General Roy Galido — said the operation was “a significant breakthrough in our campaign against the Daulah Islamiyah [another name for ISIS in East Asia].” He continued, saying, “We are certain that the death of Abu Zacharia will be the downfall of the IS-inspired group in our area of operation.”
The Process of Peace
Insurgencies have been losing support in the region, and warring factions have willingly come to the peace table.
Over 1,000 fighters in Mindanao have voluntarily surrendered since 2016. These fighters have come from ISIS in East Asia, Abu Sayyaf, and other terrorist organizations, and the increase in voluntary surrenders has been attributed to the loss of ISIS leaders, like those who died in the raids, reports the National Defense College of the Philippines
The report also discussed the importance of negotiations in producing peace. After a 2018 treaty was signed between Manila and an insurgency movement called the Moro Islamic Liberation Front — some of whose members helped form the Abu Sayyaf Group, reports the CIA — the group began helping the government track down other insurgency fighters. This collaboration has led to even more surrenders, according to the Defense College’s report.
In line with that 2018 treaty, the Philippines created a new province — the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao — the following year. Since that time, more and more insurgents have surrendered, with one commander saying there are now “no more reasons to fight the government.”
Halfway through earning a master’s in national security at the Institute of World Politics, Mason Stauffer is part of The American Spectator’s 2023 intern class. When he isn’t preparing for his future career in the national security sector, Mason can usually be found hiking through the National Park System or playing his trumpet.
