Daesh Eyes South Philippines as Possible Base if Forced From Mideast

Daesh beset with battlefield losses in Iraq and Syria, is expected to expand into areas of the Southern Philippines where central government control is weak, the private security and intelligence firm, The Soufan Group (TSG), said in a report on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — TSG estimates that 700 to 1,000 fighters from the Southern Philippines and nearby regions of Indonesia and Malaysia have joined Daesh in Syria.

"The Islamic State needs a vacuum to continue its claim to territory and a caliphate," the TSG report said. "The group has yet to establish a Southeast Asian Wiliyah [province], but it is likely that it will do so this year, as its grip on Syria and Iraq weakens."

Lately, most of the world’s attention has focused on a buildup of Daesh fighters in Libya. But the terrorist group is finding Libya "a difficult place to remain and expand," the report explained.

Though the number is relatively small compared with recruitment by Daesh elsewhere, the report explained that it only takes a handful of combat-trained fighters returning from Syria to create a wave of mass-casualty terror attacks, as demonstrated in Paris and Brussels.

A second cause for concern is the presence of several terrorist groups that have withstood varying degrees of military and law enforcement pressure, the report said.

These groups include Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines, which has pledged allegiance to Daesh. Abu Sayyaf beheaded a Canadian hostage this week after a ransom deadline had passed.