Sayyaf cell in Sabah went unnoticed for over a decade
Published on: Sunday, September 04, 2022
By: Stefyanie Myla Micheal
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One of the ASG shacks in Beaufort.
The chosen location for their hideout was a southwestern district that was far from Sabah’s east coast that had long been the hotbed of subversive activities of the Abu Sayyaf and other terror groups due to the region’s proximity to the southern Philippines.
Attacks by militant and armed groups as well as pirates dating back as far as 68 years ago had been focused on the east coast, with the most infamous, one would argue, was the 2013 Lahad Datu siege by the so-called Royal Sulu Force out to stake their territorial claim over Sabah.
Following the bloody 2013 incursion that took 10 lives from Malaysia’s government forces and dozens from the militants’ side, Malaysia formed the multi-agency, police-led Eastern Sabah Security Command or Esscom, and designated the east coast as the Eastern Sabah Security Zone or Esszone for Esscom to watch over.
Some kidnappings, a staple Abu Sayyaf activity, still occurred in the Esszone but overall security was significantly increased following Essscom and Esszone’s formation, said the agency, adding kidnappings had been reduced and also foiled under their watch.
However, after the formation of Esscom and Esszone, a new trend seemed to emerge – that militant activities now have mostly shifted away from the east coast to the interior and west.
Hazani, then Sabah Police Commissioner, during a press conference in Beaufort.
From Left: Beaufort Police Chief: Yusof Zaki, Ramli, Munira
In the past six years, terror cells and individuals were nailed not just in the east coast but also in the west and interior, namely in Keningau, Sipitang, Penampang, Tenom, Papar, and Tambunan districts.
And the latest activities were detected in Beaufort, the first Abu Sayyaf encampment no less.
Holding areas as their own has always been the terror group’s ambition as shown by their 2017 siege on Marawi city in the southern Philippine province of Lanao del Sur, which lasted for five months.
The route to their settlement through a small path down the hill in the jungle near the mangroves.
The ASG settlement after it was destroyed.
In that Beaufort operation in May last year, police shot dead five Abu Sayyaf members including a sub-leader wanted by the Philippine government for violent crimes in the southern part of the country.
The gunbattle occurred at the group’s encampment located in swamplands near a residential area called Taman Seri Arjuna.
More than a week earlier, authorities arrested in the encampment 37 people, including 21 children and women, said to be family members of the five Abu Sayyaf men, who escaped.
The 37 arrested included eight suspected Abu Sayyaf militants, two of whom were wanted by the Philippine government.
Police said then that the five men had returned to their encampment and a follow-up inspection by authorities resulted in the fatal firefight.
Daily Express also just found out from Beaufort district police chief Deputy Superintendent Yusof Zaki Yaacob that the escaping men had fled to Sipitang.
“As a result of interrogations, police found out the members of the group fled to Sipitang, where the police tracked them down and arrested 25 people, after which, the others fled back to Beaufort,” Zaki explained.
Speaking to reporters in a press conference after the shootout, then-Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Hazani Ghazali said authorities believed they had successfully crippled an Abu Sayyaf cell with links to the Islamic State terror group.
However, Hazani said the group was believed to have more insiders, moles, sympathisers and members in Sabah, some of whom were still masquerading as religious leaders and recruiting people.
Daily Express’ investigation discovered some of the Abu Sayyaf members had been in Sabah for more than a decade, mingling with people doing odd jobs as cobblers, carpenters, and labourers at construction sites.
They even had family and children who lived peacefully and harmoniously in the community, which explains how they had gone undetected for so long.
According to Zaki, the Abu Sayyaf cell had been in Sabah for about 10 years.
“The settlement where they lived was in a forest, and it was only the Abu Sayyaf members and their families who lived there,” Zaki told Daily Express.
“They came here for construction work and then lay low in a hidden location when the project was completed.
“They went out to find food and work, such as selling watches, cigarettes, and carpentry, among other things.”
When asked how authorities discovered the settlement in the forest, Zaki said it was possible thorough the police Special Branch’s intelligence, in addition to the branch’s special anti-terrorist unit called E8.
The search for the Abu Sayyaf cell took many years rather than a day or two.
“We needed to think like them so we could track them down and find out where they were,” Zaki recalled.
“They will not remain in Basilan or Mindanao; they will flee if they commit crimes there.
“If they flee, they will not be on Sabah’s east coast, they will act like locals and mingle with locals, making it difficult to identify them.”
Zaki said that the Abu Sayyaf members came to Sabah for three reasons, the first is that they wanted to transform the Beaufort encampment into a safe haven.
“This place was designed to keep them safe so that they could not be detected if they became involved with the local community,” he explained.
“The second goal was to find new recruits among their people, the Sulugs and Bajau from the Philippines. The third goal was to make money.”
According to Zaki, they would get money away from where they lived.
“They would wait for the right time, when the authorities were not paying attention enough, and then commit crime to get money.”
“They’d settle in places where there’s money, like banks, supermarkets, and pawnshops.”
The settlement in Beaufort was the first settlement they established in Sabah, according to Zaki.
Even the owner of the land where the encampment was built was not aware.
According to Zaki, the landowner was unaware of the settlement because he purchased the land for investment purposes and it was only monitored at the time of purchase.
“The owners are simply waiting to see if Beaufort will develop further,” said Zaki.
“We advise owners to keep a close eye on the areas they purchase. We can’t stop the owners who want to wait for the town to grow.”
A Malaysian terrorism and counter-terrorism expert said a terror cell usually has a handler.
Munira Mustaffa, Executive Director of the Chasseur Group and non-resident fellow of New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy, said a cell’s effectiveness depends on their leader or handler and how well or efficiently their organisation can equip the agents or supply them with the tools, equipment, funding or weapons that they need through their handler.
“Also, how well their handler can keep them under control and well-trained and not do anything that can raise suspicions or detection from local authorities,” Munira, a former government terrorism anayst, told Daily Express
“To see the tell-tale signs, this has more to do with the ability of local authorities, law enforcement intelligence, or security apparatus to detect or discover and identify them,” she said.
Munira said their success also boils down to how well the leader or handler can manage the cell while remaining covert.
Dr. Ramli Dollah, a security expert at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), said several factors influence a terror cell’s success, such as the state economy’s overdependence on foreign workers from neighbouring countries.
“As a result, the state has to employ a large number of migrants from neighbouring countries.
“The problem is that most of this group who fled from the Philippines disguised themselves as foreign workers in Sabah. Because of economic desperation, most of the economic sectors employ foreigners without thorough screening of their background.
“Local Sabahan need to be more sensitive to the surrounding environment. As long as local Sabahans are aware of the risks, the threat may be contained,” Ramli told Daily Express.
According to Ramli, several other factors are also important in understanding the strengths and weaknesses of a teror cell such as the close relationship between Sabah and the Philippines, the prevalence of extensive smuggling operations, and the availability of sea transportation that enables the group’s movement, among others.
“Close relationships between the police and the society are needed to raise awareness,” Ramly suggested.
“More information regarding any suspicious activities should be made available to the general public and this will contribute to a high degree of society awareness.”
“Many of them are now on the run as a result of (former Philippine President) Duterte’s policies.
“So, for the time being, the only safe passage is to Sabah, where they can work or seek temporary shelter.
Sabah has grown in popularity for a variety of reasons, including its geographical location, proximity, and history as a second home for many Filipinos.”
According to Ramli, the Duterte administration has implemented tougher policies and declared all-out war on terrorists in the Philippines.
“Since 2016, the {Armed Forces of the Philippine] has increased its efforts to eliminate the threat. Thousands of AFP troops have stormed ASG strongholds, particularly in Basilan, in order to eliminate the threat,” he said.
“They escaped from the AFP (which either killed the members of ASG or they surrendered to Philippine authorities). Those who were not apprehended fled to Sabah.
“Sabah will remain under threat until the situation in the southern Philippines is resolved. Geographical factors such as long coastlines, numerous islands, a vast area of mangroves, and close proximity will facilitate this route and make Sabah’s border too porous.”
These geographical factors, according to Ramli, also contribute to another issue because closing one rat trail opens up more rat trails, making the problem more difficult to solve.
“Not to mention Sabah’s over-reliance on foreign labour and a variety of other factors,” he added.
Ramli, however, does not believe that Sabah is under threat of an attack from the group.
“I say this because there appears to be an unspoken agreement among extremist groups, particularly the ASG, that Sabah should not be destabilised because it is difficult for the group to find temporary shelter in an emergency like today,” he said, adding that this was also the agreement among former extremist leaders in the early 2000s.
Whether there will be an attack on Sabah’s soil or whether the state will remain as a “quiet” operating ground for terror cells, only time will tell.
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