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Five suspected members of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) were killed
on 17 May by Malaysian police in an armed encounter in Beaufort
district on Sabah's west coast. Mabar Binda, a commander associated
with the ASG's Sawadjaan clan responsible for directing
kidnap-for-ransom activities in Sabah and the Philippines' Sulu
islands, was identified among the deceased.
Police located the suspected militants after tracking fugitives
who had escaped from an operation on 8 May in a squatter settlement
in Beaufort. Eight men identified as ASG militants, including
Binda's fellow commander Sansibar Bensio, and 29 other individuals
were arrested in the earlier operation.
Sabah has in recent years been identified by the authorities as
a major transit point for Islamist militants to smuggle arms and
supplies between southern Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
Sabah Police Commissioner Hazani Ghazali said on 18 May that 83
suspected Islamic State militants have been arrested from 2014 to
2020 in the state.
Significance
The presence of ASG members in Beaufort indicates that Sabah
remains an important location for the organization to operate,
taking advantage of settlements often comprising undocumented
Filipino migrants. Given that their location was poorly equipped
for an armed confrontation, with just two pistols and machetes
seized in the operation, it is unlikely that the suspected
militants planned to launch attacks or kidnappings from
Beaufort.
While Sabah's east coast is used by the ASG for
kidnap-for-ransom activities, the western coast and hinterland are
ideal for concealed locations. Reports from Philippine and
Malaysian security forces indicate that the ASG cell disrupted in
Sabah comprised the survivors of an ASG subgroup operating from
eastern Sulu. Most notably, counter-terrorism operations in Jolo
resulted in the deaths of several of the group's members, including
the father of Mabar Binda, Hatib Munap Binda, and the father of
Sansibar Bensio, Bensio Barahama, in November 2020.
The intensity of military operations against the ASG in Sulu was
a likely factor driving survivors to seek refuge in Beaufort. Given
the intensity of the Philippine military's ongoing operations, more
arrests and armed encounters between fleeing ASG members and
Malaysian security forces are likely.
Posted 20 May 2021 by Anton Alifandi, Associate Director, Country Risk, IHS Markit
