Timeline of Abu Sayyaf Islamic militant group in Philippines
Filipino and Canadian officials said yesterday the group had murdered Canadian retiree John Ridsdel, seven months after abducting him along with two other Westerners and a Filipina at a southern resort.
The following is a timeline of the Abu Sayyaf’s rise and rampage:
Early 1990s: Libya-trained preacher Abdurajak Janjalani forms the Abu Sayyaf (Bearer of the Sword) with young Muslims disaffected by an older generation of guerrillas. The new group is backed by seed money from a local charity run by Mohammad Jamal Khalifa, a brother-in-law of al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
April 4, 1995: Hundreds of its gunmen sack the southern town of Ipil, leaving more than 50 people dead.
Dec 18, 1998: Janjalani is killed in a clash with security forces on the island of Basilan and is replaced by younger brother, Khadaffy Janjalani, who is killed in September 2006.
April 23, 2000: The group makes its first known foreign sortie, snatching 10 Western tourists and 11 Asians from island resort of Sipadan off Malaysian Borneo.
May 14, 2015: Malaysian tourist Bernard Then and restaurant manager Thien Nyuk Fun are seized in the Malaysian port of Sandakan.
The woman is released in November, reportedly after a ransom was paid, but the man was beheaded.
Sept 21, 2015: Canadian tourists John Ridsdel and Robert Hall, Norwegian resort manager Kjartan Sekkingstad, and Hall’s Filipina girlfriend are seized from yachts docked at a resort on Samal island, hundreds of kilometres from Abu Sayyaf strongholds.
The kidnappers later threaten to behead one of the hostages if ransom is not paid by April 25.
Oct 7, 2015: Retired Italian priest Rolando Del Torchio is kidnapped at his pizza restaurant in the southern city of Dipolog, also far from Abu Sayyaf strongholds. He is freed unharmed on April 9 this year.
March 26, 2016: Ten Indonesian sailors are seized from their tugboat off Malaysian Borneo. The vessel’s owners say the Abu Sayyaf demanded a ransom.
April 1, 2016 – Gunmen on speedboats seize four Malaysians from the east coast of Sabah state. Malaysian authorities describe the gunmen as Filipino.
April 16, 2016 – Gunmen abduct four Indonesian sailors on the high seas off Sabah. The Philippine army suspects the Abu Sayyaf to be behind the kidnapping.
April 25, 2016 – A decapitated human head turns up on Jolo island, an Abu Sayyaf base, as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau denounces the “terrorist” murder of Ridsdel, one of the hostages held in the Philippines. — AFP
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