The new emir of the Islamic State or IS in Southeast Asia was killed on Wednesday, June 14, in the same city that local and foreign fighters supporting the international jihadist group attacked and occupied for five months six years ago.
Faharudin Hadji Benito Satar, also known as Abu Zacariah, of the group Dawlah Islamiyah-IS, was hiding in Marawi City in the province of Lanao del Sur, according to Philippine Army chief Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner, who confirmed the militant leader’s death.
Security forces caught up with him in a safe house in Brgy. Bangon, not far from a military brigade camp. He was killed in a 10-minute gun battle that ensued as a joint team of police and the military approached the building to serve warrants of arrest against him over a string of crimes including kidnapping, arson, murder, and frustrated murder.
“All the while they thought they could hide as [ordinary persons] in Marawi because they thought it’s their mass base,” Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) chief Lt. Gen. Roy Galido told the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) in a phone interview.
Galido doused fears that Zacariah’s presence in Marawi was an indication of a plan to repeat the 2017 siege, which shut down the city for five months as the military used air strikes and heavy artillery to flush out the militants.
“The government is very much in control. We don’t allow any aggressive action or anything that would lead to a single incident in Marawi,” he said.
Zacariah’s death followed three months of manhunt operations against the IS-linked Dawlah Islamiyah group, also known as the Maute Group, the main group behind the Marawi siege.
“We’ve been very aggressive for the past three months. We were very successful in our efforts and this constricted their movements. Nag-break out ang group nila. Kaniya-kaniyang scamper. Kaniya-kaniyang tago (Each one scampered away and hid on their own),” said Galido.
Zacariah moved to Marawi after he suffered battle defeats in another town, Marogong, in the same province. He threatened but failed to occupy the remote town after his followers were arrested by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a former rebel group now cooperating with the government, and turned over to the military.
3rd ISIS emir
However, the survival of the IS-linked groups underscore the failure of the Philippines to quash remnant fighters six years after the siege. They are still able to recruit new members and launch attacks.
Zacariah fought during the 2017 siege alongside Hapilon. He reportedly left the battle area to recruit reinforcements but military lockdowns prevented him from returning. He is said to have been in his 30s before he was killed on June 14.
“It’s as big a name as there is these days. But it’s not a game-changer,” said Zachary Abuza, a professor at the National War College in Washington, D.C. and longtime observer of Philippine security issues.
“The militants are greatly diminished, but the government has a way of dropping the ball and allowing small groups to rebuild,” he said.
Zacariah is the third in a line of IS emirs in the region since Isnilon Hapilon, the leader of the 2017 siege.
The Philippines military estimates the total strength of four IS-linked groups at less than a hundred members. It includes the Hassan Group of the late Salahuddin Hassan, who was killed in military operations in Maguindanao last year. The group still has 20 active members.
It also includes the Maguid Group of Sarangani province. Its leader Mohammad Jaafar “Tokboy” Maguid was killed six years ago, in 2017, but the group still has seven active members.
“Historically, it is difficult to fully get rid of these organizations since they often operate as networks, cells, or factions [and] not as very coherent organizations. For example, leadership capacitation has often not produced results,” said analyst Georgi Engelbrecht of the Crisis Group, citing the enduring presence of the Abu Sayyaf Group, a violent separatist group that carried out terrorist attacks and kidnappings beginning in the 1990s.
Tirmizy Abdullah, professor at the Mindanao State University in Marawi, said the groups remain active also because of the continued proliferation of loose firearms, a gap in the implementation of the peace process between the government and the MILF.
“Hanggang ngayon ay hindi umuusad ng matino ang decommissioning (Until now, the decommissioning of former combatants is suffering delays). They can easily recruit former rebels to join them,” he said.
The small groups are capable of hit-and-run attacks that continue to disrupt the peace in the area.
“Ang terrorism kasi you cannot measure [it based on] gaano sila kalakas (their strength) but on [the capacity of] their network to wreak havoc. Dahil (because) they operate in small groups,” said Westmincom spokesperson Maj. Andrew Linao.
Memories of Hapilon’s raid
The continued presence of the IS-linked groups has put residents of Marawi and nearby towns in a constant state of insecurity.
On Wednesday morning, photographs of soldiers in Brgy. Bangon and reports of a “lockdown” circulated among Marawi residents.
“Please don’t tell me may Part 2 ang Marawi Siege,” one post on Facebook read.
Fears were quickly doused after the military issued an official statement on the death of the militant leader.
“Alam ko ang (I know the) present capacity ng remnants. They don’t have the capacity to stage another Marawi siege. Pero ‘yung ibang (But the other) residents nandoon pa rin ang takot, lalo na mga (are still fearful, especially) parents, at usually women,” said Drieza Lininding, a civilian leader in Marawi.
He said many of the social media posts were circulated by displaced residents who have yet to return to Marawi. Misinformation also spread over messaging apps and two-way radio. Threats made by Zacariah in Marogong were meant to make Marawi residents believe that these were directed at the city, he said.
The operations in the country’s Islamic City were reminiscent of the events that led to the May 23, 2017 siege.
In 2017, the military was also serving an arrest warrant on Hapilon when gun battles broke out in Brgy. Basak Malutlut. Hapilon escaped and then surprised the military when his group launched attacks and occupied strategic locations including a military camp, Christian schools, and mosques.
The battles lasted for five months. Hapilon led a few hundred fighters composed mostly of recruits of the Maute Group, which provided the muscle for the siege. Leaders had harnessed frustrations on the peace process between the government and the MILF to attract new members. They had also pushed to make Marawi City a province of IS.
The military launched air strikes to defeat the militants, flattening most of the city center.
Links between groups
IS is the latest of a number of international jihadist groups including Al Qaeda that have taken advantage of local conflicts and grievances to link up with Philippine groups.
Zacariah’s death will again put the IS-linked groups in disarray but the remnant fighters are expected to regroup and find a new leader.
Lininding said recruitment would continue as long as foreign influences remained. He said many of the recruits could be relatives of fighters who were killed in the 2017 siege or young people vulnerable to indoctrination into IS beliefs.
“Hindi mauubos kasi mayroon pa ring (They will not run out of members because of) influence from the outside. Hindi siya mawawala (These groups will not disappear)…. They are able to train in remote areas,” Lininding said.
Engelbrecht was concerned over the connections between the different IS-linked groups.
“One important thing there is that some of the remnants of Salahuddin Hassan apparently linked up with some Mautes last year and perhaps a bit before. There were links between these two groups, but in the end it all fizzled out publicly, so we’re not really sure what was going on,” he said.
“The Dawlah Islamiyah elements are quite shadowy. But in Lanao there was also consistency. You have Telegram (messaging app) channel traffic, alleged trainings going on, a random clash here and there, and then Marogong,” he said.
Rumors of Zacariah being spotted in Iligan circulated earlier but Galido said they were not able to confirm the sighting. This and his presence in Marawi raised questions over the support that his group had obtained from residents.
“There is a bulk of those who are either too stubborn to give up or sincerely believe that the struggle needs to continue. In addition, you have these opportunists or relatives who end up joining too. All this is not helping the fighters to grow, but it helps them stick around,” said Engelbrecht.
But Galido is confident the military has the support of the residents. He said the residents did not want a repeat of the 2017 siege.
Lingering issues
The military said there would be no letup in the operations despite Zacariah’s death. But lingering issues beyond the military’s control could become a bigger concern, according to analysts.
A military solution is not enough to eradicate the groups, said analysts. “If parts of Lanao remain underdeveloped, if the peace process momentum will crumble, then even the militants will find more time and support. This is why the Bangsamoro peace process needs to succeed,” said Engelbrecht.
Abuza is concerned that the small IS-linked groups would undermine the peace process. “I don’t want to take away an AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) victory. But I also fear attacks and engagements in areas that could undermine the MILF peace process,” he said.
“Peace processes are fragile. Conflict in that region undermines the MILF’s legitimacy and any pretension that there is true autonomy,” he said.
Delays in the rehabilitation of the former battle area also remain a source of frustration.
Only about 1% of 17,793 households in Marawi’s city center have returned. While most of the government buildings have been completed, the construction of utilities such as the water supply has been delayed.
A new law promised compensation to the victims but implementation has yet to be seen. A government body is set to begin work to resolve land disputes.
Abdullah said it’s important for the government to gain the trust of the people. “We don’t want another Marawi to happen,” he said.
Over two-way radio, a popular communication device in the area where mobile phone signals are unreliable, someone has immediately claimed to be Zacariah’s successor. His messages drew mixed reactions, prompting fear among those who believed him and social media memes among those who didn’t. END