Terrorist Threats to Shipping: Philippines ISIS Team Member Abu Sayyaf Nabs Sailors, Seeks Ransom to Fund Operations

Abu Sayyaf kidnaps 7 Indonesian sailors

Jolo Island is in the oval

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Sunday finally confirmed the Abu Sayyaf Group's (ASG) kidnapping of seven Indonesian sailors in the Sulu Sea, two days after Indonesian authorities announced the incident.
The AFP's Western Mindanao Command (WesMinCom) said that armed men on board two motorized boats intercepted the Indonesian's tugboat while en route to Indonesia in the Sulu Sea around 11 a.m. last June 22.
The WesMinCom's report said that only seven of the 13 crewmen on board the Indonesia tugboat were taken by the bandits.
It said that the seven Indonesians have been turned over by the armed men, later identified as the Muktadil brothers -- Nickson, Brown, Badung and Dadis -- to Abu Sayyaf Group sub-leader Majal Adja alias Apo Mike based in Sulu.
The WesMinCom said among those kidnapped was the boat's captain, who had called his wife in Indonesia to relay that their kidnappers were asking 20 million Malaysian ringgit.

Now, Indonesian hostages of Abu Sayyaf located:

Efforts to release seven Indonesian sailors recently abducted in waters off southern Philippines have progressed, with the defense ministries of the two countries on Monday locating the hostages.
The government had been tight-lipped over its handling of the aftermath of the kidnapping of seven members of the crew of the tugboat Charles 001 on June 20 in waters near Philippines’ Jolo island, where the headquarters of terrorist group Abu Sayyaf is located.
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Abu Sayyaf has for more than a decade been notorious for its profit-driven activities, such as extortion and kidnap-for-ransom, and has a number of sub-operations under its control.

Of course Abu Sayyaf is now asserting it is affiliated with ISIS:

Southeast Asian militants who claim to be fighting for Islamic State in the Middle East have said they have chosen one of the most wanted men in the Philippines to head a regional faction of the ultraradical group, security officials said on Thursday.

The claim was made in a video that was recently posted on social media, possibly last week, a military intelligence official in the Philippines told Reuters. The video is significant, experts say, because it shows that Islamic State supporters are now being asked to stay home and unify under one umbrella group to launch attacks in Southeast Asia, instead of being drawn to the fight in the Middle East.

Authorities in the region have been on heightened alert since Islamic State claimed an attack in the Indonesian capital Jakarta in January in which eight people were killed, including four of the attackers. In the 20-minute video seen by Reuters, young men and some children in military fatigues are shown carrying and training with weapons, and holding Islamic State flags.
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In the video, a man authorities in Malaysia have identified as Mohd Rafi Udin, a Malaysian militant currently in Syria, says in Malay: "If you cannot go to (Syria), join up and go to the Philippines."

In the video, Udin also urges Muslims to unite under the leadership of Abu Abdullah, a Philippine militant leader who pledged allegiance to Islamic State in January. Abu Abdullah, also known as Isnilon Hapilon, is a leader of the Philippine militant group Abu Sayyaf.

Abu Sayyaf poses some threat to shipping transiting the Sulu and Celebes Seas, especially to tugs,dive boats and other small craft which can be boarded and from which hostages can be removed. They are not yet in the business of hijacking larger ships.

Jihadist Threats to "Tankers"

Jihadi target?

Shiptalk and a number of other maritime security sites have noted a reported threat by unspecified jihadist groups to attack "martime targets" or "oil tankers" somewhere along the tanker paths from the "Arabian Peninsula" to the "Horn of Africa." See, e.g. "Targeting Tankers, Targeting Tankers, Tanker Threat. The link to the source of this report is not present on any of those sites,but I believe it to be SITEIntel, a subscription based jihadist monitoring company. My belief is based, entirely, on a Google search that led me to this summary from a subscription based site:

news.siteintelgroup.com/.../1102-jihadist-calls-for-attacks-on-oil-tankers-...
6 days ago – A jihadist called for attacks on oil tankers, particularly those in waters around the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa, and gave ...

While I am fascinated by the report, I don't have enough couch change to pump for the fees required to look into it.

Damaged tanker Limburg

What I do know is that such threats have been around for some time and that various al Qaeda or other groups have attacked ships in the past: USS Cole on October 12, 2000; the tanker Limburg on October 6, 2002; the tanker M-Star on 27 July 2010; and the thwarted attack on a cruise ship off Turkey in 2005. Then there are the Philippine ferry attacks and the handiwork of the now silent (but not dead yet) Sri Lankan LTTE terrorists.

USS Cole damage

Such threats have long been blogged about on this site, including this 2007 post, "Al Qaeda's Maritime Threat" an essay by Akiva Lorenz of the Institute for Counter-Terrorism, this 2008 post Al Qaeda Calling for Chokepoint Terrorism.

There have also been a number of news reports raising this issue over the years.

In short, there is a threat.

There has long been a threat.

Maritime security remains important.