The Philippine Inquirer yesterday quoted the military’s deputy chief of staff of intelligence, Maj Gen Fernando Trinidad, as saying the 48 foreigners are actively taking part in the training of terrorist recruits in Mindanao.
Fernando said this while making his presentation at the Philippine Supreme Court to justify the declaration of the extended martial law in the region.
The report further said that in November last year, Trinidad claimed 15 terrorists from Malaysia and Indonesia entered Mindanao to help an Islamic State (IS)-inspired group in Saranggani.
He said 16 Indonesian militants also entered Mindanao to provide assistance and training to the Abu Sayyaf group in Basilan and Maute group in Lanao del Sur.
Both groups were responsible for the five-month war with troops in Marawi city.
An Egyptian was also monitored to have entered southern Philippines this month, Trinidad said.
“These foreign fighters are almost irrelevant but for the indigenous groups and movements they can attach themselves to,” Zachary Abuza, a professor focusing on Southeast Asian security issues, told FMT.
“They may provide technical expertise, be a new source of funds, replenish depleted ranks or give moral encouragement.
“Most importantly, they can bridge factional divides and rivalries.”
The Washington-based National War College professor said the presence of foreign fighters in southern Philippines unites the possibly otherwise-divided local militant groups.
“Because foreign fighters by definition are outsiders, they can bridge the ethnic, tribal or political differences,” he said.
“They can try to rise above these petty differences that so often make cooperation between groups so difficult.
“Individually, these groups are too small to pose a threat, but a strategic or even tactical cooperation is a force multiplier.”
Pawel Wojcik, an analyst specialising in terrorism issues in Southeast Asian and other regions, said a Filipino IS recruiter, known by his moniker, Abu Dar, might have a hand in the recruitment of the foreigners from the region.
Abu Dar is wanted by the Philippine authorities for carrying out recruitment for IS even before the Marawi war ended late October last year.
“Given what we know and what we’ve been hearing so far, the majority of the foreign fighters from Malaysia and Indonesia may be involved with the Abu Dar group that we know operates around Lake Lanao,” he told FMT.
“Although the Philippine military said Abu Dar was recruiting only locals, if he is connected to all IS’ networks in the region, he is certainly involved in recruiting regional foreign fighters.
“Or at least, he could be linked to such recruitments via couriers or encrypted messages with other groups within the network.”
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