SULTAN KUDARAT, Philippines – One of the eight suspected extremists killed by government forces in Palimbang town last Thursday was a nephew of a former lawmaker who dropped out of school to join the Ansarul Khilafa Philippines (AKP).
The mother of the slain jihadist works as a staff of a government firm in Region 12.
Relatives said their young kin, who had stopped pursuing a degree at a Catholic school to study Islamic theology in General Santos City, had not communicated with his parents for about six months until they learned he was among those killed by government forces.
“Of course his elders have nothing to do with his having turned into an extremist or to say it clearly a ‘wrongly-guided’ jihadist,” said a relative who is also employed in a government agency.
The slain jihadist was a scion of Moro royalty in the Maguindanao province.
The ragtag AKP group that the Marines fought with is led by Jaafar Maguid, a radical Islamist who has been introducing himself as the local figurehead of the jihadist faction.
Maguid has been claiming that he is inspired by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) whenever he speaks to Muslim villagers in areas where he and his men operate.
Eight followers of Maguid were killed in the ensuing firefight with government forces.
Troops found in their camp in Barangay Butril assorted firearms and black flags similar to the flags the ISIS use.
Maguid and his men had tried to expand their operations in far-flung areas in Palimbang, according to local officials.
Police and military sources said the group earned the ire of villagers and local officials when they began espousing hostility with non-Muslims.
Palimbang, a coastal town in Sultan Kudarat, is an old settlement where Muslim and Christian residents have been living peacefully and thriving as neighbors even before the town was created in the 1950s.
Maguid is wanted for heinous offenses and is also suspected of being a protector of local drug rings.
While in Barangay Butril, Maguid and his men reportedly encouraged villagers to arm themselves in anticipation of possible persecution by non-Muslims.
Sources from the religious communities in Lanao del Sur said the AKP is an ally of another armed extremist group, the Khilafa Islamiya Movement (KIM), which has openly been expressing support for ISIS.
The police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group is now validating reports that one of the eight followers of Maguid was an Indonesian identified as Ibrahim “Fatah” Alih.
Alih was implicated in the deadly 2002 Bali bombings.
Alih was with Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, and local terrorist Abdul Basit Usman, both targets of the Special Action Force commandos in the infamous Mamasapano operation on Jan. 25 that left 44 policemen killed.