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Formation of Abu Sayyaf Group
Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) was formed in 1991 by Ustadz Abdurajak Janjalani. After he spent time in Afghanistan in the late 1980's, he was influenced by radical Wahhabi Islamist doctrine. He returned to the Philippines and intended to start a group to combine Salafi Jihadist ideology with a southern Philippines separatist agenda. The main objective of Abu Sayyaf Group was to fight for the establishment of an independent Islamic republic in the southern region of the Philippines, Mindanao. -
First attack of Abu Sayyaf Group
In August of 1991 the group became mobilized by their first attack. They bombed a ship in Zamboanga harbor and grenade attack on a performance that consisted of Christian missionaries. Many people were injured in this attack. -
World Trade Center Bombing
On February 26, 1993 there was an attempt to blow up the World Trade Centers. A truck that was filled with explosives was parked below the North Tower and the explosives were set to go off and blow up the North Tower, knocking it into the South Tower, resulting in both of them being destroyed. It was intended to kill thousands of people but it failed only ending up killing seven people but it injured over one thousand. This attack was planned by many people including Ramzi Yousef. -
Attack on Ipil
The first major attack from Abu Sayyaf Group was on Ipil. It is a southern Filipino town and thirty people were taken hostage and fifty-three civilians and soldiers were killed. The group was disguised as military men and raided a predominately Christian town. There were thirty hostages taken and most of them consisted of women and children. -
Death of Ustadz Abdurajak Janjalani
Ustadz Abdurajak Janjalani was the beginning leader and the founder of Abu Sayyaf Group. He was killed in a clash with the police on December 18, 1998. After his death his brother, Khadaffy Janjalani, replaced him as the leader of the group until his death which was in September 2006. It is unclear if there is a single leader of Abu Sayyaf Group is now. -
Sipadan Kidnapping
Abu Sayyaf used high-powered speedboats and kidnapped 21 people from a dive resort in Malaysia. Nineteen of the people were foreigners and two were Filipinos. All of the hostages got brought to Sulu. Most of the hostages were released within months but the Roland Ulla, who was a Filipino had to escape on June 6, 2003. Before the release of the hostages, Abu Sayyaf made many demands for the release of 1993 World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Yousef and for ransom money up to 2.4 millon dollars. -
Kidnapping of Jeffrey Schilling
Jeffrey Schilling was an American and a Muslim convert. He was kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf for over eight months. He got captured after visitinga terrorist camp with his wife. Abu Sayyaf demanded ten million dollars for ransom for his release, but Jeffrey was able to escape just over eight months. He was picked up by the Philipine Marine Corps on April 12, 2001. -
Martin and Gracia Burnham's Kidnapping
On May 27, 2001, Abu Sayyaf Group kidnapped from Dos Palmas which is an expensive resort in Honda Bay. At the time it was considered to be one of the safest places. The most "valuable" hostages taken were North Americans, Martin and Gracia Burnham, a missionary couple. Abu Sayyaf demanded one million dollars for their release. On June 7, 2002 Philipine army troops tried to free the hostages but two hostages were killed, Martin Burnham and a Filipino nurse and another hostage was wounded. -
Davao Airport Bombing
There were twenty-one people that were killed in this bombing and over a hundred were wounded. One of the people killed was an American Missionary, while two other Americans sustained only injuries. A bomb exploded at the waiting shed fronting the arrival area of Davao International Airport, in Davao City, Davao Del Sur. After the bombing Abu Sayyaf admitted to being responsible for this and they gave no explanation as to why they did it. -
Superferry 14 Bombing
On February 14, 2004, a member of Abu Sayyaf boarded a ferry carrying a cardboard box. He told the the security that it as a TV inside. The security didn't check the box and let him walk on the ferry. The box was actually contained 3.6 kg of T.N.T. After boarding the ferry he placed the box on his seat and slipped away just before the ferry had left. As the ship left the box blew up, starting a massive fire. Over a hundred people were killed in this bombing and it was the largest attack by Abu S -
