SUMMARY
The Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement - Karialan faction was one of several Islamist, separatist groups present in southern Philippines, engaged in armed conflict over the territory Mindanao.
The group was created by a splinter from the separatist rebel group Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement (BIFM) in 2016, as the founder Ustadz Karialan (also called Imam Minimbang), renounced the core group's connections to the Islamic State (IS).
BIFM, in turn, was created as a splinter from the separatist rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in 2011 following the latter's negotiations with the Philippine government. BIFM stated that it wanted to continue the struggle for a Moro homeland, and that MILF was wasting time negotiating with the government. In 2014 and 2015 some BIFM commanders, including the BIFM leader Ismael Abubaker (also known as Imam Bungos) pledged allegiance to IS. Other commanders, including Karialan, had a more local focus and did not adopt the global jihad ideology of the IS and its allies. When BIFM was recognized as an IS member in April 2016, the rift deepened, leading Karialan to leave BIFM. The spokesman for the new faction, Abu Amir, stated that "We are not to be swayed by the ISIS ideology because we adhere to the cause of the Moro struggle and teachings of the Koran".
The size of BIFM-K remains unclear; estimates for all BIFM factions range from a few hundred members to 2000. In March 2019, MILF said that there were no more than 200 BIFM troops in total. When BIFM-K stormed the town of Datu Paglas in the southern region of Mindanao in May 2021, between 20 and 200 rebels were involved.
Despite the different positions with regard to IS, there have been reports of BIFM troops under Bungos (formally part of IS since 2016) supporting BIFM-K in clashes against the government. For example, when fighting erupted in the Liguasan marsh, Mindanao in March 2018, fighters from core BIFM reinforced Karialan's troops.
In April 2024, BIFM-K leader Karialan was killed in a clash with the Government of the Philippines in Maguindanao Sur.
