MARIT STINUS-CABUGON
THE immediate trigger of the Maute Group-led attack on Marawi City last May 23 was the military’s attempt to arrest Abu Sayyaf Basilan leader Isnilon Hapilon. Heeding the call for help from Isnilon—the anointed leader of Islamic State (IS) in Southeast Asia— hundreds of heavily armed men, Filipino and foreign, attacked the city. One of the leaders of the attack, according to Malaysian newspaper The Star, was Dr. Mahmud Ahmad, a Malaysian university lecturer who before fleeing Malaysia for Basilan, had been recruiting fighters for IS in Syria. In Basilan, he had been training Isnilon’s men until forced to flee to Lanao del Sur where he continued to recruit foreign jihadists to fight in Mindanao.