Looted cash helps IS to recruit in PH
MARAWI CITY— Islamist insurgents looted cash, gold and jewelry worth tens of millions of pesos when they occupied the city last year, treasure one of their leaders, Humam Abdul Najib, has used to recruit around 250 fighters for fresh attacks. As a result, IS followers remain a potent threat in Southeast Asia even though hundreds were killed in Marawi.
MARAWI CITY— Islamist insurgents looted cash, gold and jewelry worth tens of millions of pesos when they occupied this city last year, treasure one of their leaders has used to recruit around 250 fighters for fresh attacks.
The military said Humam Abdul Najib escaped from Marawi, which the militants had hoped to establish as a stronghold for the Islamic State (IS) group in Southeast Asia, before it was recaptured by the military last October after five months of ferocious battles and aerial bombardment.
Since then, Najib, also known as Abu Dar, has used the booty looted from bank vaults, shops and homes in Marawi to win over boys and young men in the impoverished province of Lanao del Sur, according to military officers in the area.
Hardened mercenaries are also joining, lured by the promise of money, they said.
As a result, IS followers remain a potent threat in Southeast Asia even though hundreds of militants were killed in the battle for Marawi, the officers said.
Overall objective
“Definitely, they haven’t abandoned their intent to create a caliphate in Southeast Asia,” Col. Romeo Brawner, the deputy commander of Joint Task Force Marawi, told Reuters.
“That’s the overall objective, but in the meantime while they are still trying to recover and build up again—fighters and weapons—our estimate is they are going to launch terrorist attacks,” Brawner said.
On Saturday, militants wounded eight soldiers during two attacks in Lanao del Sur, Brawner said, the first such vio- lence since the recapture of Marawi.
In the early days of the occupation of Marawi last May, as black-clad fighters burned churches, released prisoners and cut the power supply, other militants targeted banks and the homes of wealthy citizens, commandeering hostages to help with the plunder.
“It was in the first week. They divided us into three groups with seven people each,” said J.R. Montesa, a Christian construction worker who was captured by the militants.
Using explosives, the militants blew open the vaults of the city’s three main banks, Landbank, Philippine National Bank (PNB) and Al Amanah Islamic Bank, Montesa told Reuters in a town near Marawi.
They trucked away the booty, easily slipping out of Marawi because a security cordon was not fully in place.
They also raided jewelry stores, pawnshops and businesses.
Landbank and Al Amanah did not respond to requests for comment. PNB said recovering losses because of the Marawi fighting was a concern, but did not give details.
The Islamic celebration of Ramadan was looming at the time the militants struck and banks, businesses and homes had more money than usual, said Marawi police chief Ebra Moxsir.
The Maranao, the ethnic group that dominates the area around the city, are mostly Muslims.
“There was a lot of money inside the battle area,” he told Reuters. “Maranaos keep millions of pesos in safety vaults in their homes. Gold, also. It is a tradition of the Maranao to give gifts of money [during Ramadan].”
Montesa said vans they had loaded with the spoils of the raids were “overflowing,” with money, gold and other valuables stuffed into every crevice of the vehicles.
“They were saying it was a gift from Allah. They would say ‘Allahu Akbar’ ( God is great) while we were stealing,” he said.
The military and police have also been accused by rights groups and by Marawi residents of looting during the conflict.
Brawner said a small number of soldiers had been disciplined for looting, but the practice was not widespread.
But the center of Marawi—home to its major banks, main market and grandest residences—was under the control of militants for months.
Brawner said authorities were unclear exactly how much was taken by the militants.
“It’s hard for us to say. We have heard about P2 billion but that’s just an estimate,” he said.
“In the first days, when we were not able to establish that security cordon around the main battle area, that was the time when they were able to slip out with their war booty,” he added.
The government also said the regrouping of militants in Mindanao, which has been marred by Islamic and communist uprisings for decades, was dangerous.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque told Reuters: “There is always the danger of these groups regaining strength enough to mount another Marawi-like operation.”
Najib is believed to have fled Marawi early in the battle. There are conflicting reports about whether he had a dispute with other leaders or left as part of a preconceived plan.
He attempted to return last August with 50-100 more fighters to reinforce the militants, who by then were losing ground, but he was prevented by an improved security cordon, Brawner said.
“According to reports, they were able to recruit another 100 to 150. So the estimate is 250 all in all, and this includes children,” Brawner said. “They are trying to recruit orphans, relatives of the fighters who died and sympathizers.”
Parents of children are offered as much as P70,000, plus a monthly salary of as much as P30,000, to hand over their sons to the group, according to security sources and community leaders briefed on the recruitment.
The average family income in the Philippines is P22,000 a month, according to a 2015 government survey. It was about half that in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, where Marawi and surrounding areas lie.
Brawner said local residents had told the military that the militant group also offered bonuses of up to P10,000 for killing a soldier.
Rommel Banlaoi, a Manilabased security expert, said more experienced fighters had also been recruited.
These were “mercenaries” attracted by the payouts, Banlaoi said, but Najib has also tapped into disaffection among Maranao angered by the destruction of large parts of Marawi by the military’s bombing campaign.
“That kind of narrative is being used by [IS] to lure people to continue the fight,” Banlaoi said.
Next emir?
With the looted funds and a loyal following, Najib could become the new “emir” of IS in Southeast Asia following the death of Isnilon Hapilon, a leader of the bandit group Abu Sayyaf, in the battle for Marawi, according to security analysts.
Najib is a hardened fighter and cleric who studied in the Middle East and reportedly trained with militants in Afghanistan, they say.
He cofounded Khalifa Islamiyah Mindanao, an insurgent group formed in 2012 that launched a series of bombings on the island.