On June 21, 2016, he appeared in a 20-minute video released on pro-ISIS Telegram accounts, calling on Muslims to join the jihad. The Filipino, along with an Indonesian and Malaysian, spoke in their native languages and urged Muslims to fight in Syria or the Philippines.
“If you cannot go to [Syria], join up and go to the Philippines,” said the Malaysian.
The Filipino urged his “brothers” to be strong.
“Mag-ingat kayo at maging malakas, huwag kayong magpadala sa mapanlinlang na taktika ng bagong halal na … si Duterte. Sumpain siya ng Allah,” he said.
The men then beheaded 3 Caucasian males, whom they claimed were “spies of the crusader alliance.”
Now classified documents obtained by Rappler name the Southeast Asians, including the only identified Filipino fighting in Syria for ISIS. Mohammed Saifudin Faiz is from Indonesia; Mohammed Rafi Udin is from Malaysia.
The lone Filipino is 26-year-old Mohammad Reza Kiram. His passport photo below is verified by the Philippine National Police.
Born in Zamboanga City, Kiram travelled with his wife and daughter to Syria in 2015, according to a confidential Interpol report dated December, 2016.
Turkish officials confirmed their arrival at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport on May 20, 2015. Authorities from at least 3 countries, including the Philippines, say they are now in Raqqa.
Arrests in Malaysia this week spotlight a new ISIS terror cell using Sabah as a transit point to funnel recruits from Southeast Asia and South Asia to the southern Philippines, evidence that Kiram’s rallying cry last June is now being carried out.
Intelligence documents say Kiram was allegedly part of Ansar al-Khalifa, also known as AKP, Ansar Khalifa Philippines, Ansar al-Khilafah or Ansar Khilafah, the latest evolution of a sub-group once part of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) network and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
AKP and the death of Tokboy
AKP pledged allegiance to ISIS in a YouTube video in 2015, largely believed to be the group in a video distributed in November 2015 threatening the APEC Summit in Manila. It was globally distributed by ISIS propaganda sites. (READ: ISIS’ global ambitions and plans for Southeast Asia)
Its influential leader, Mohammed Jaafar Maguid or “Tokboy”, was killed in Sarangani earlier this month. Under him, AKP operated throughout central Mindanao and maintained operational links with Indonesian group, MIT or Mujahidin Indonesia Timur, perhaps the most aggressive ISIS affiliate in Indonesia. Both groups once worked together under JI, once al-Qaeda’s arm in Southeast Asia.
The Philippine police and military continue operations until today against the AKP and another closely-affiliated group which also pledged allegiance to ISIS, the Maute group.
ISIS and the Maute group
The Philippine police verified Rappler's early analysis that the Maute group, led by Abdullah Maute, is behind the September 2, 2016 bomb detonated at a night market in Davao City, killing at least 14 people and injuring at least 70.
An Interpol document obtained by Rappler estimates the Maute group has about “90 members who possess various small arms and – as demonstrated by the Davao City bombing – the capability to make Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) with military munitions.”
Abdullah’s father, Cayamora Maute, according to military sources, was a senior official of the MILF, the largest Muslim separatist group now involved in peace talks with the government. Philippine military documents show the family has been monitored since 2007, when Maute and his wife sheltered and worked with JI leaders.
That history explains the radicalization of their sons, who criticized the MILF leadership, the peace process, and later pledged allegiance to ISIS.
2016 was a busy year for the Maute group:
From February 20 to March 1, the group attacked a military camp and established 3 strongholds in Lanao del Sur, displacing nearly 30,000 people. It took 10 days for the military to regain control.
On April 21, a Facebook account posted two photos showing the Maute group beheading two sawmill workers in orange jumpsuits, like ISIS public executions.
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