Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), also known as the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement, is an Islamist militant organization based in
Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...
, the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
. It is a smaller player in the overall
Moro insurgency in the Philippines The Moro conflict is an insurgency in the Mindanao region of the Philippines, which has involved multiple armed groups, and has been ongoing since March 1968. Peace deals have been signed between the Philippine government and two major arm ...
and is mostly active in Maguindanao and other places in central Mindanao. It is a breakaway group from the
Moro Islamic Liberation Front The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF; ar, ''Jabhat Taḥrīr Moro al-ʾIslāmiyyah'') is a group based in Mindanao seeking an autonomous region of the Moro people from the central government. The group has a presence in the Bangsamoro r ...
founded by
Ameril Umbra Kato Ameril Umbra Kato (18 May 1946 – 14 April 2015) was the founder of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), a group which seceded from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). He joined the MILF in or around 1985, after he graduated from ...
. Following Kato's death, the group split into three factions, one of which has aligned with the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...
(ISIL), while the other two are less radical.


History


Foundation and operations under Ameril Umbra Kato

Kato broke with the
Moro Islamic Liberation Front The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF; ar, ''Jabhat Taḥrīr Moro al-ʾIslāmiyyah'') is a group based in Mindanao seeking an autonomous region of the Moro people from the central government. The group has a presence in the Bangsamoro r ...
(MILF) in 2008 because he disagreed with the MILF's acceptance of autonomy rather than full independence. In 2008, after the
Philippine Supreme Court The Supreme Court ( fil, Kataas-taasang Hukuman; colloquially referred to as the ''Korte Suprema'' lso used in formal writing is the highest court in the Philippines. The Supreme Court was established by the Second Philippine Commission on Ju ...
nullified the
Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain A memorandum ( : memoranda; abbr: memo; from the Latin ''memorandum'', "(that) which is to be remembered") is a written message that is typically used in a professional setting. Commonly abbreviated "memo," these messages are usually brief and ...
signed by the Philippine government and the MILF, Kato led a contingent of MILF fighters in an attack against civilians. In December 2010, Kato formed the BIFF. He claimed to have 5,000 fighters but the government said that he had only 300. It was not until August 2011 that the MILF recognized the break and declared the BIFF a "lost command". The BIFF rejected the 2012
Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro The Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro is a preliminary peace agreement signed in the Malacañan Palace in Manila, Philippines on October 15, 2012. The agreement calls for the creation of an autonomous political entity named Bangsamoro, repla ...
, a preliminary peace agreement signed between the
Government of the Philippines The Government of the Philippines ( fil, Pamahalaan ng Pilipinas) has three interdependent branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The Philippines is governed as a unitary state under a presidential representative and d ...
and the MILF, and vowed to continue their fight. In January 2014, after the final annexes of the Framework Agreement were signed, the
Armed Forces of the Philippines The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) ( fil, Sandatahang Lakas ng Pilipinas) are the military forces of the Philippines. It consists of three main service branches; the Army, the Air Force, and the Navy (including the Marine Corps). The ...
launched
Operation Darkhorse Operation Darkhorse (Filipino: ''Oplan Darkhorse'') was an offensive against the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) launched by the Armed Forces of the Philippines on January 27, 2014. Background The fighting broke just as the normaliz ...
against the BIFF. The army captured the BIFF's main camp in
Barangay A barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as barrio (abbreviated as Bo.), is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolita ...
Ganta,
Shariff Saydona Mustapha Shariff Saydona Mustapha, officially the Municipality of Shariff Saydona Mustapha ( Maguindanaon: ''Inged nu Shariff Saydona Mustapha''; Iranun: ''Inged a Shariff Saydona Mustapha''; tl, Bayan ng Shariff Saydona Mustapha), is a municipality in ...
, Maguindanao which reportedly had 500 fighters. On February 4, 2014, the
Moro National Liberation Front The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF; ar, الجبهة الوطنية لتحرير مورو) is a political organization in the Philippines that was founded in 1972. It started as a splinter group of the Muslim Independence Movement. The ...
(MNLF) commander Habib Mujahab Hashim confirmed reports that the BIFF had forged an alliance with his group. Along with the MILF, on January 25, 2015, the BIFF was involved in the
2015 Mamasapano clash The Mamasapano clash was a shootout that took place during a police operation by the Special Action Force (SAF) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) on January 25, 2015, in Tukanalipao, Mamasapano, then-undivided Maguindanao (which is ...
, leading to the deaths of 44 members of the SAF, 18 from the MILF and five from the BIFF. Following the event, the group engaged in some clashes against the AFP, prompting AFP Chief of Staff
Gregorio Pio Catapang Gregorio Pio Punzalan Catapang, Jr., CCLH (born 11 July 1959) is a retired Filipino general who served as the 45th Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. He was the Vice Chief of Staff prior to his appointment as head of the arme ...
to announce in late February 2015 an all-out offensive against the BIFF. The offensive resulted in more than 100 casualties in the BIFF. It also suffered a split when a commander Tambako formed the Justice for Islamic Movement to protect the foreign militants hiding in BIFF controlled areas. He was captured in General Santos City trying to escape the law. In 2019,
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
listed the group as terrorist.


Split after Ameril Umbra Kato's death

After founder Ameril Umbra Kato's death, BIFF's former vice-chairman for political affairs, Ismael Abubakar, alias "Imam Bongos", took over leadership of the group. Among the first moves of the BIFF under Abubakar was the bombing of an outpost of the Philippine Army and two different detachments of the Special Action Force (SAF) in Maguindanao on April 19, 2015. Over time, Ismael Abubakar began to increasingly adopt the radical
ideology of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant The ideology of the Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIS, ISIL, or Daesh), sometimes called Islamic Statism, has been described as being a hybrid of Salafism, Salafi jihadism, Sunni Islamist fundamentalism, Wahhabism, and Qutbism. Through its o ...
(ISIL), and openly declared an alliance with ISIL in August 2015. This development caused unrest among the group. As result, one commander of BIFF, Ustadz Karialan (alias "Imam Minimbang"), split from the group with his followers and formed a separate faction. This faction stated that "we are not to be swayed by the ISIS ideology because we adhere to the cause of the Moro struggle and teachings of the Koran". Despite this, disagreements over ideological trends continued in Ismael Abubakar's faction, with part of his followers regarding his stance as too moderate. These hardliners eventually left as well, forming the "Jamaatul al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar" wing of the group and electing Esmael Abdulmalik (alias "Abu Toraife") as leader. This most radical faction of BIFF has openly adopted ISIL's ideology.


Battle of Marawi and aftermath

It is possible that BIFF participated in the
Battle of Marawi The siege of Marawi ( fil, Pagkubkob sa Marawi), also known as the Marawi crisis (), and the Battle of Marawi (), was a five-month-long armed conflict in Marawi, Philippines, that started on May 23, 2017, between Philippine government security ...
of 2017. The Philippine military stated in May 2017 that BIFF fighters were among the Jihadists in the city, while Secretary of National Defense
Delfin Lorenzana Delfin Negrillo Lorenzana, OLH, KGOR (born October 28, 1948) is a retired Philippine Army general who served as Secretary of National Defense in the Cabinet of President Rodrigo Duterte from 2016 to 2022. He served in the Philippine Army fr ...
claimed in June 2017 that about 40 fighters of the group took part in the fighting. According to other reports, the group had not only contributed fighters to the battle, but also provided "logistical support" to the ISIL forces besieged in Marawi. Nevertheless, a BIFF spokesman stated in June 2017 that though his group "welcomed" the offensive by the Maute group and Abu Sayyaf, BIFF's operations at the time were unrelated to the Battle of Marawi. Furthermore, the leader of the
Moro Islamic Liberation Front The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF; ar, ''Jabhat Taḥrīr Moro al-ʾIslāmiyyah'') is a group based in Mindanao seeking an autonomous region of the Moro people from the central government. The group has a presence in the Bangsamoro r ...
Murad Ebrahim Ahod Balawag Ebrahim (born 15 May 1949), better known as Al-hajj Murad Ebrahim, is a Moro Filipino politician and former rebel leader currently serving as the first chief minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. As the c ...
claimed in July 2018 that BIFF had not participated in the battle. On 3 July three soldiers were injured and four militants after a gunfight in
Datu Paglas Datu Paglas, officially the Municipality of Datu Paglas ( Maguindanaon: ''Ingud nu Datu Paglas''; Iranun: ''Inged a Datu Paglas''; tl, Bayan ng Datu Paglas), is a 4th class municipality in the province of Maguindanao del Sur, Philippines. Accord ...
, Maguindanao. Later on 29 July, nine BIFF members were killed after a gunfight which took place in
Shariff Saydona Mustapha, Maguindanao Shariff Saydona Mustapha, officially the Municipality of Shariff Saydona Mustapha (Maguindanao language, Maguindanaon: ''Inged nu Shariff Saydona Mustapha''; Iranun language, Iranun: ''Inged a Shariff Saydona Mustapha''; tl, Bayan ng Shariff Sayd ...
.The militants killed were all followers of Abu Toraife, whose real name is Abdulmalik Esmael, General of one of three factions in the BIFF. Days after the authorities found militants training suicide bombers in Southern Philippines. In May 2021, several BIFF fighters of the Karialan faction were killed in clashes with Philippine security forces. Between 50 to 200 BIFF militants occupied the market in
Datu Paglas Datu Paglas, officially the Municipality of Datu Paglas ( Maguindanaon: ''Ingud nu Datu Paglas''; Iranun: ''Inged a Datu Paglas''; tl, Bayan ng Datu Paglas), is a 4th class municipality in the province of Maguindanao del Sur, Philippines. Accord ...
on 8 May 2021. The insurgents were led by Solaiman Tudon who was part of Ustadz Karialan's faction. The rebels were quickly expelled from Datu Paglas, and observers speculated that the Karialan faction had just wanted to demonstrate its continued combat capabilities through this operation.


Engagements

*
Operation Darkhorse Operation Darkhorse (Filipino: ''Oplan Darkhorse'') was an offensive against the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) launched by the Armed Forces of the Philippines on January 27, 2014. Background The fighting broke just as the normaliz ...
(2014) *
Mamasapano clash The Mamasapano clash was a shootout that took place during a police operation by the Special Action Force (SAF) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) on January 25, 2015, in Tukanalipao, Mamasapano, then-undivided Maguindanao (which is now ...
(2015) *
Marawi crisis The siege of Marawi ( fil, Pagkubkob sa Marawi), also known as the Marawi crisis (), and the Battle of Marawi (), was a five-month-long armed conflict in Marawi, Philippines, that started on May 23, 2017, between Philippine government securit ...
(2017)


See also

*
Insurgency in the Philippines The civil conflict in the Philippines as of February 2019, consists of an insurgency pitting government forces against Maoist rebels, that began in 1969 during the rule of Ferdinand Marcos. *the communist rebellion in the Philippines *the Mo ...
*
Peace process with the Bangsamoro in the Philippines In the late 1960s, an independence movement was founded in Mindanao, the Philippines to separate the Muslim majority- Moro areas from the rest of the Philippines. In late 1968, at least 28 Muslim volunteers from Sulu who were being trained for a ...


References


Notes

{{IslamismSEA Islamism in the Philippines Jihadist groups Military history of the Philippines Moro conflict Separatism in the Philippines