MANILA/DUBAI: Malaysian militant Mohammad Amin Baco has replaced Isnilon Hapilon as the new Daesh emir in Southeast Asia, according to the Philippines top police official.
“We are still looking for Amin Baco,” Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said, describing the Malaysian as the likely new “successor as the emir of those terrorists.”
Police chief Ronaldo dela Rosa said he received similar information that Baco had assumed the role of Daesh’s point man.
Ronald Dela Rosa, chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), said that information came from a captured Indonesian militant, Muhammad Ilham Syahputra.
Baco, Rosa said, is not only the leader of the handful of Maute fighters remaining in Marawi, the Phillipines’ only Islamic city, where government forces and militants have been fighting since May, but “in the whole of Southeast Asia.”
Rosa said Baco has “assumed the position of emir of (Daesh in) Southeast Asia.”
The PNP chief admitted that Syahputra’s information had not yet been validated.
Baco comes from the eastern Malaysian state of Sabah and is married to the daughter of Hajjan Sawadjan, one of the leaders of the Philippine militant group Abu Sayyaf.
Baco is himself a former member of the Sabah arm of Indonesian Islamic group Darul Islam.
Rosa made his claims as government troops continue to conduct clearing operations in Marawi. Twelve more Maute stragglers were reportedly killed over the weekend, including Ibrahim Maute, the cousin of the slain leaders of the terror group, Omar and Abdullah.
Hapilon — the previous “emir” — was killed along with Omar Maute on Oct. 16, as government troops made their final push to liberate Marawi from the Daesh-backed militants who had held parts of the city for five months.
Further investigation into Baco, however, cast doubt on Syahputra’s claim, and revealed that various armed forces and intelligence agencies are uncertain as to Baco’s whereabouts or his standing within either the Maute group or Daesh in Southeast Asia.
“We heard the news that he could be Isnilon’s successor as the emir, but since they have already dispersed, we are still pursuing him,” Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told reporters on the sidelines of the DND’s 78th anniversary celebration at Camp Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo.
Lorenzana pointed out that even if Baco is now the recognized leader, he no longer has the numbers on the ground to pose any real threat to Marawi.
“They can no longer hold the ground and sustain the fight,” he said. Although he added that the militants are still dangerous: “They fire and run away. Shoot and run. Sometimes they leave behind some explosives that cause injuries to our troops.”
Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr., commander of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in Western Mindanao, said he believes Baco is already dead.
“He (was monitored) inside the main battle area and yesterday the camp commanders reported body counts where they (Baco and other Maute stragglers) are hiding,” he said. “We believe, hopefully, that one of them is Baco.”
Galvez added that if Baco has been neutralized, then Abu Sayyaf’s link to Daesh has been broken.
AFP spokesman Maj. Gen, Restituto Padilla echoed Lorenzana’s claim that the Maute group could no longer seriously threaten the security of Marawi.
He also said that “contrary to pronouncements by some officials,” the AFP believes that, rather than Baco becoming the new emir, “the group is now leaderless and without direction.”
“Amin Baco is believed to have been among those killed in Marawi recently. Baco’s remains are now the subject of an ongoing search,” Padilla added.
Malaysian authorities, however, claim Baco escaped Marawi having offered to surrender last week.
“Amin Baco probably breached the military cordon in Marawi after offering to surrender his group,” an intelligence source in Kuala Lumpur told Arab News.
Philippines hunts for possible new Daesh leader in Southeast Asia
Philippines hunts for possible new Daesh leader in Southeast Asia
UK cyclists to ride 550km in Saudi Arabia to save children with heart defects
- The H&K Cycle Club was the first team to take the Hejaz route, and their endeavour has since 2022 inspired hundreds of other cyclists to follow suit
- The cyclists expect to face scorching heat, brutal headwinds, sandstorms, and long no-U-turn stretches of roads, along with physical and mental exhaustion
LONDON: A cycling team from London set out on Sunday on a 550km journey from Makkah to Madinah in Saudi Arabia to raise funds for children in developing countries with congenital heart defects.
This is the fifth year that Shamsul Abdin, the head of the H&K Cycle Club, and 40 riders aged between 18 and 65, are taking on the challenge through the Hejaz region.
Abdin told Arab News that the “Hijrah Ride” was a replication of the journey made by Prophet Muhammad over 1,400 years ago, when he migrated from Makkah to Madinah, where he established the first city-state of Islam. This migration, known as Hijrah, also marked the beginning of the Islamic Hijri calendar.
The H&K Cycle Club has expanded from just six riders 14 years ago to more than 40 members from various cities across the UK, including London, Manchester, Oxford, and Birmingham. In November, they began their training in the freezing temperatures of the UK, aiming to cycle over 100 kilometers each day within 6 to 7 hours for a 4-day ride in Saudi Arabia. On Wednesday, they are expected to arrive in Madinah.
They have cycled throughout the UK and parts of Europe, riding from London to Istanbul to raise funds for various causes through Muntada Aid, a charity that works on projects in developing countries and organizes the “Hijrah Ride”.
They were also the first cycling team to take the Hejaz route, and their endeavour has since inspired hundreds of other cyclists to follow suit. Abdin has seen Saudi Arabia become more bike-friendly over the past five years, with cycling lanes integrated into city development, while drivers, locals, and authorities are now more aware of cyclists on the roads.
The cyclists expect to face scorching heat, brutal headwinds, sandstorms, and long no-U-turn stretches of roads, along with physical and mental exhaustion. For many riders, this will be their fifth ride in Hejaz. Some of them include Uber and bus drivers, business analysts, and even entrepreneurs, according to Abdin.
“The headwind feels like climbing a mountain; it’s a constant resistance. To overcome this challenge, we ride in a peloton, taking turns at the front. One person heads into the wind while the others line up behind, shielded from the gusts. After a while, we rotate, allowing everyone a chance to lead,” Abdin explained.
Almost £923,000 has been raised by the “Hijrah Ride” since its inception, to reach a target of one million pounds this year. Some of the money went into emergency aid programs in Gaza and Sudan. Muntada Aid aims to raise about £250,000 for its flagship project, “Little Hearts,” which will fund 150 surgeries for children with congenital heart defects in Pakistan and Bangladesh this year.
“I fell in love with this project, which gives children the opportunity to live up to their potential as adults, truly,” said Abdin, who was awarded the MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in December for his contribution to charitable fundraising.
The riders will be escorted by two vehicles, one in front and one in the rear, carrying paramedics and media staff, along with food and water. They will split into two groups based on their cycling powers. Along the route, they will pass several locations, including Jeddah on the Red Sea, King Abdullah Economic City, Rabigh, Masturah, and Badr, before reaching the elevated roads of Madinah, where their journey, which started with performing Umrah in Makkah, will end.
Muntada Aid is a part of Al-Muntada Trust, which was founded in 1986 by a group of Middle Eastern students, including individuals from Qatar and Saudi Arabia, to address the famine crisis in Ethiopia. Since then, the organization has assisted children in 17 countries, including Somalia, Sudan, Chad, Kosovo, Bosnia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Mali, and Niger. They focus on developing infrastructure in education, health, water and sanitation sectors.
Nasrun Mir, the marketing director of Muntada Aid, told Arab News that they support “Hijrah Ride” with financial backing and logistics, and that they have obtained permits through communication with the Saudi Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Saudi embassy in London, and the British Consulate in Jeddah.
Mir, who is joining the journey as part of the media team this week, said that the reception in Saudi Arabia could not be friendlier.
“People offer us free food and drinks. They want to have conversations with us. They want to know what we do. In the Middle East, there is still no concept of using sports as a tool for charity. The general idea is that if I want to give money to the charity, I’ll give it to them. You don’t need to run. You don’t need to cycle,” Mir said.
In one incident, a local community prevented the riders from passing through their village unless they disembarked and sat down to eat with them. In particular sections of the road near Madinah, a Saudi police vehicle has escorted the riders for a few kilometers, he added.
“There have been incidents where people have stopped us from eating our own food during the break. They literally took our food and said, ‘No, you come to our village; you cannot eat your food. You have to have food, which we will prepare.’ This delayed ride for a couple of hours,” Mir said.
