TERRORIST GROUPS
ISIS–East Asia (ISIS-EA)
( AS OF MARCH 2025 )
OVERVIEW
ISIS–East Asia (ISIS-EA) is a branch of ISIS that is based primarily in the Philippines and aspires to expand ISIS’s self-proclaimed caliphate to Southeast Asia. ISIS officially recognized the group as an affiliate in 2016, and the group includes some veterans of older Southeast Asian terrorist or militant groups, such as the Abu Sayyaf Group and Jemaah Islamiyah. ISIS-EA is organized into regional battalions in the Philippines.
OPERATING AREAS
Southern Philippines
MEMBERS
Fewer than 300 members
TACTICS AND TARGETS
ISIS-EA conducts attacks against Philippine military, police, Government, and Christian civilian targets using IEDs, suicide operatives, VBIEDs, and small arms. ISIS-EA has used female operatives to conduct suicide attacks, an unusual tactic for an ISIS element.
TERRORIST GROUP DESIGNATION
The US Department of State designated ISIS-EA as a foreign terrorist organization in February 2018.
KEY LEADERS
Abu Zacharia [DECEASED]
Former amir; killed in June 2023
Salahuddin Hassan [DECEASED]
Former amir; killed in October 2021
Isnilon Hapilon [DECEASED]
Former amir; killed in March 2019
NOTABLE ATTACKS
3 December 2023
Marawi City, Lanao del Sur Province, Philippines
Operatives bomb a Catholic mass at Mindanao State University, killing 4 people and injuring dozens.
24 August 2020
Jolo Island, Sulu Province, Philippines
Two suicide bombers attack Philippine military personnel and police in a shopping area, killing at least 15 and wounding 77 others.
27 January 2019
Jolo Island, Sulu Province, Philippines
Two suicide bombers affiliated with ISIS-EA and the Abu Sayyaf Group kill 23 people and wound more than 100 at the Jolo Cathedral.
May-October 2017
Marawi City, Lanao del Sur Province, Philippines
ISIS-EA members occupy Marawi City and fight the Philippine military for five months before government forces liberate the city.