By Roel Pareño
MANILA, Philippines - About 50 Abu Sayyaf members have fled Basilan to join Islamic State-inspired leader Isnilon Hapilon in Lanao del Sur, Gov. Jim Saliman-Hataman said.
The move, he added, was a chance for the group to escape an intensified military offensive conducted since late last year in some terrorist lairs and in Barangay Baguindan, a mountainous portion of Tipo-Tipo town.
It was reportedly in Tipo-tipo and Al-Barka towns that Hapilon’s group tried to establish its caliphate by hoisting a black flag often associated with the terrorist IS.
The military overran the group’s defensive and training hideout in Baguindan.
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